So it all started innocuously enough - the most poorly-guarded tech secret of the year came out with this post on cyclingnews.com http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tech-colnago-launch-c59-disc . So after the cross revolution caused by discs, the industry was keep to get early-adopters on them on the road as well. Whilst superficially similar in appearance, the differences between a cross bike and a road bike go well beyond some extra rubber on the tyres, and whilst i can see the sense, to some degree, in disc brakes for cross, the idea of using them on the road had me scratching my head.
Being a physicist by training, i don't just scratch my head, i like to start drawing pictures and thinking about forces. This is where the putative "disc brake revolution" really falls down for me. So let's look at why...
Firstly, a bit of history. Disc brakes appeared on the mountain bike scene in the mid-90s, it's 20 years since Hope released their first disc brake for mountain biking, and it's fair to say that almost no mtb, whether intended for XC, Downhill, Enduro, Freeride, Gnar-Core etc etc comes with the previous incarnations of technology, the V-brake or the cantilever. So how did they come into the sport, and why are they so universal? The early-adopters, as is so often the case, were the DH crowd - they were tired of struggling with stiff v-brake levers that were unable to apply sufficient force to the rim of the wheel to slow them down, in spite of using wide tyres with well-designed treads. The difficulty of applying sufficient force compounded the all-too-common issue of "arm pump" where the muscles in the forearm become painful from pushing on the muscle sheath, and would cause a further reduction in control. In short, the technical sport of downhill was becoming more about who could cope with the arm-pain!
When disc brake technology crossed over from motorbikes through motorcross, at much the same time as oil damped (as opposed to elastomer-damped) forks, downhill riders were keen to adopt it. They could now leave braking later, relying on applying less force at the lever to generate the same braking force at the tyre, and had the added advantage that disc brakes were away from the wheel rims, meaning that in foul conditions they didn't suffer from the same fade and unpredictability that bedevilled v-brakes. Within a few years, discs were everywhere, the extra weight they added to bikes (they were significantly heavier than v-brakes at this time) more than compensated by the improved performance they allowed. With the improved performance of the brakes, the limiting factor became the tyres riders were using, the narrow 2" rubber of the 90s was too narrow to cope with the extra braking forces, and it was soon the case that DH racers were up-sizing to 2.5" tyres that could once again handle the job.
It took a little longer for XC riders, and especially racers to embrace the new technology, which initially required significant extra weight, not just for the levers, hoses and calipers, but also because frames had to be built much more robustly around the anchoring points for the brakes (a simple bit of physics, rim brakes apply their force approximately 30cm from the centre of the hub, whereas disc brakes are around 8cm from the axle, and so apply ~4 times the force of rim brakes to the frame where they are anchored). When i started mtbing again as an adult (back in the heady days of 2003), discs were pretty ubiquitous even on
lower-end models. There were still design issues however, as people discovered that the shape of fork dropouts and placement of the caliper were vital to keeping the wheel in the fork when braking hard - there were a couple of high-profile accidents in 2003 in fact that highlighted this problem, and made us as a community realise that even the mature technology of disc brakes required extra development and thought to become as trusted as v-brakes had been. As they became more universal, people discovered that there were potential problems that had not been noted on the race course, where by definition, descents tended to be short, and racers extremely competent. Particular problems seemed to arise from your average rider descending for long periods of time in mountainous areas - the heat build-up in brakes that are in constant use for a long time was too great, and was causing the fluid to boil
You might very well ask, what was the point of that wander down history lane? Well, given that there is all this history of the development of discs for offroad use, we might viably ask, what can we learn? Well, there are a number of points that are relevant, where the brakes have superceded previous technologies, what changes in technology they have elicited, and what their limitations are. I think factually, it's pretty uncontroversial to say that over the course of an XC race on dry tracks, it makes little difference if you're riding discs or not. Hydraulic disc brakes come into their own where the rider requires:
(1) repeated or continual hard braking (better tranfer of force from lever to point of application - note this mechanical advantage is lessened by using cable discs) - this lessens rider arm fatigue.
(2) resilience to foul conditions - the hydraulic lines are unaffected by mud (not so cable discs, which by their nature have many problems in common with vees), all discs are further from the tyre and not as likely to be coated with mud and sludge, and allow better frame clearances (although these are often limited by other factors anyway!).
Like anything though, they have their limitations. These are particularly
(1) They are less good at dissipating heat than rim brakes - the brake rotors are generally made of steel, which conducts heat better and has a higher specific heat than aluminium rims, but there is also many times less thermal mass in a rotor than in a rim. If you have problems with aluminium or carbon rims overheating on descents, then discs are not the answer, especially given that based on the design of the system, overheating can result in two possible outcomes - either the brakes clamp on (closed hyrdaulics) or the fluid overheats and they cease to work (open system). Either is pretty bad!
(2) The braking force you can apply is limited by the width of the tyre - if you're able to apply more force you're more likely to run out of traction, and given that disc brakes work better in the wet than v-brakes, where tyre traction is lower, this is a particular worry scenario.
(3) They apply significantly more force to the frame requiring much stronger frame designs, which means extra weight in the short term, whilst designers get their finite-element work done in the longer term. There is also the potential for front wheels "popping out" under hard braking with fork designs are based around much weaker caliper brakes.
Bearing these plusses and minuses in mind, it seems hard to justify the need for disc brakes on road bikes - they're just not necessary, and in the wrong situations could even be detrimental to rider safety. The plusses do not address problems that are common amongst road riders and racers, who rarely have to cope with repeated hard braking(and live to tell the tale) or muddy tracks, and the minuses seem to be too great for the same people. The only conclusion i can come to is that this is a way to sell us, the consumers, something we don't want or need. I am prepared to change my opinions in the face of well-reasoned, physical arguments, but i have so far heard nothing to make me deviate from my opinion above. It will be interesting to watch the adoption or not of disc brakes on the road...
Next week, i'll piss off the 29er consortium - stay tuned :).
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Seasoned Professional or Impassioned Amateur
I spent a very pleasant week last week in Boston at a physics conference. You might think that the two things are mutually exclusive, but i have to admit that i relish any opportunity to indulge my inner geek, and 8000 people who have the same interest in the amazing variety of the world around us gave a perfect vent to that! One evening, i was having dinner with my PI (Principal Investigator, just like in Magnum PI, perhaps an over-fancy term for boss!), and he proffered the opinion that the physics world divides roughly into two camps. So let me introduce the two groups of protagonists:
On the one hand, we have the seasoned professionals, the people who pursue their art with an enthusiasm borne of the pride they take in their achievements. These are people who can work enormous hours driven by their contribution to history - they publish incredible papers, but they could turn this laser-like focus to other avenues and be successful.
On the other, we find the impassioned amateurs. people who's love of the subject matter in particular drives them forwards, and who would probably still do physics in their spare time. They achieve not through a drive for success but through sheer nosiness, and through a fascination with the rules of the world.
This is not to say that either group is in some sense "better" or more successful than the other, it's merely an expression of people's motivation for doing what is, after all, not always a very rewarding subject!
It occurred to me that the same is true almost universally, but that it also equally applies to cyclists - there are people who race bikes to taste the sweetness of victory and to push themselves to be as good as they can be (the professionals) and there are the people who race their bikes because, win or lose, they love every minutes that they are on two wheels. I think i know which camp i fall into in both physics and cycling, but it's an interesting thought experiment to imagine myself in the other camp. So which is it, do you consider yourself an amateur or a pro?
On the one hand, we have the seasoned professionals, the people who pursue their art with an enthusiasm borne of the pride they take in their achievements. These are people who can work enormous hours driven by their contribution to history - they publish incredible papers, but they could turn this laser-like focus to other avenues and be successful.
On the other, we find the impassioned amateurs. people who's love of the subject matter in particular drives them forwards, and who would probably still do physics in their spare time. They achieve not through a drive for success but through sheer nosiness, and through a fascination with the rules of the world.
This is not to say that either group is in some sense "better" or more successful than the other, it's merely an expression of people's motivation for doing what is, after all, not always a very rewarding subject!
It occurred to me that the same is true almost universally, but that it also equally applies to cyclists - there are people who race bikes to taste the sweetness of victory and to push themselves to be as good as they can be (the professionals) and there are the people who race their bikes because, win or lose, they love every minutes that they are on two wheels. I think i know which camp i fall into in both physics and cycling, but it's an interesting thought experiment to imagine myself in the other camp. So which is it, do you consider yourself an amateur or a pro?
Saturday, 14 January 2012
The "Lethal Contraption"
The title of this post come from Rachel's pet-name for a bit of off-season engineering i indulged in. Whilst the name is tongue-in-cheek, if you decide to try making your own one of these, you do so entirely at your own risk, and i encourage you to take all reasonable safety precautions to protect yourself in case anything should go wrong. This includes wrapping the pressurised parts of the system in blankets, and wearing eye and ear protection, and only using this setup outdoors.
Not a lot of people know this, but the humble 2 litre fizzy drinks bottle is designed to withstand an internal pressure of 175psi before bursting. Your average person would find this (a) not very interesting and (b) not very useful, but it transpires that science-minded mtbers have been using this dry fact to great effect for some time. Well, mtbers and water-rocket enthusiasts...
Enter, stage right, the nightmare job that has bedevilled the days and nights of many an mtb rider and racer alike, seating tubeless tyres, or worse still non-tubeless specific tyres onto lightweight racing rims. Conventional wisdom suggests that it is "merely a case of getting a sufficiently snug fit between the tyre and whatever you're using to seal the spoke holes in the rim". Except most of us that have spent half an our furiously pumping only to be met by a soggy and uninflated mess of tyre, soap bubbles and latex solution know that this isn't quite the case. Those of us who are a little further from their student days than me and Rachel are faced with two choices: return to the humble innertube, which has served cyclists since 1891 when Edouard Michelin first set them loose upon the world, or indulge themselves with an expensive, and not very portable compressor. But thanks to our intrepid two-wheeled inventors, there is now an alternative possibility.
With a collection of bits and bobs you can buy from your local handy DIY emporium (the Mica home store in St. Andrews was particular good for this kind of thing) you can assemble for a couple of quid something that will do the same job as >£100 of compressor. To do the full Blue Peter thing, you will need:
2 Litre Pop bottle (note, it MUST be one that is used to contain fizzy drinks, if you use a bottle not designed to withstand pressure, it'll just burst before you have enough air in it, and you'll be picking bits of plastic out of your face for weeks)
Old track pump hose and nozzle (or do what i did, and treat your elderly track pump to a new hose etc, and use the old one for this contraption)
2 old innertubes with replaceable valve cores
2 jubilee clips
some rubber o-rings that will fit over the valve stems on the innertubes
a bulldog clip big enough to clamp over a kink the hose to prevent air escaping
eye protection, and a blanket/doormat to cover the bottle when full of air
Tools: drill bit which is the same diameter as your valve stems, vice/clamp, screwdriver for jubilee clips
Creating the "compressor" is pretty simple.
(1) Drill two holes in the top of the bottle (clamp it in the vice to do this), leaving a decent space between the two of them. Cut out the valve stems from the inner tubes, leaving a small amount of the rubber from the tube around the bottom of the stem to aid sealing.
(2) Push an o-ring over each valve, and down to the bottom of the stem, and then insert the valve through the holes in the lid so that the stems will stick out of the bottle top like a pair of antennae. Use the little metal rings that come with innertubes to secure the valve stems to the bottle lid, and to squash the o-rings to form an airtight seal.
(3) Remove the valve core from one of the valve stems, and push the free end of the track pump hose over the top. Secure the hose to the valve stem with a couple of jubilee clips to make sure you have another airtight seal.
(4) Finally, wrap several layers of duct tape around the curve of the bottle at several positions along its length to give it a bit more structural strength.
(5) Test the whole rig-up by filling the bottle with water (an effectively incompressible fluid, and therefore much less capable of storing lots of energy) and then kinking the hose and securing it with the bulldog clip. Attach a track pump to the open valve, and pump up to 120psi. Assuming the pressure doesn't drop, and water doesn't spray everywhere, you have a working tubeless compressor.
To use the compressor, kink the tube near the track pump head, and secure with the bulldog clip. Pump the chamber up to around 120psi, attach the pump head to the valve of the tubeless tyre you're trying to seat, undo the bulldog clip and hopefully the inrush of high pressure air will be enough to seat all but the most stubborn of tyres!
Et voila, a tubeless compressor for a few quid!
Not a lot of people know this, but the humble 2 litre fizzy drinks bottle is designed to withstand an internal pressure of 175psi before bursting. Your average person would find this (a) not very interesting and (b) not very useful, but it transpires that science-minded mtbers have been using this dry fact to great effect for some time. Well, mtbers and water-rocket enthusiasts...
Enter, stage right, the nightmare job that has bedevilled the days and nights of many an mtb rider and racer alike, seating tubeless tyres, or worse still non-tubeless specific tyres onto lightweight racing rims. Conventional wisdom suggests that it is "merely a case of getting a sufficiently snug fit between the tyre and whatever you're using to seal the spoke holes in the rim". Except most of us that have spent half an our furiously pumping only to be met by a soggy and uninflated mess of tyre, soap bubbles and latex solution know that this isn't quite the case. Those of us who are a little further from their student days than me and Rachel are faced with two choices: return to the humble innertube, which has served cyclists since 1891 when Edouard Michelin first set them loose upon the world, or indulge themselves with an expensive, and not very portable compressor. But thanks to our intrepid two-wheeled inventors, there is now an alternative possibility.
With a collection of bits and bobs you can buy from your local handy DIY emporium (the Mica home store in St. Andrews was particular good for this kind of thing) you can assemble for a couple of quid something that will do the same job as >£100 of compressor. To do the full Blue Peter thing, you will need:
2 Litre Pop bottle (note, it MUST be one that is used to contain fizzy drinks, if you use a bottle not designed to withstand pressure, it'll just burst before you have enough air in it, and you'll be picking bits of plastic out of your face for weeks)
Old track pump hose and nozzle (or do what i did, and treat your elderly track pump to a new hose etc, and use the old one for this contraption)
2 old innertubes with replaceable valve cores
2 jubilee clips
some rubber o-rings that will fit over the valve stems on the innertubes
a bulldog clip big enough to clamp over a kink the hose to prevent air escaping
eye protection, and a blanket/doormat to cover the bottle when full of air
Tools: drill bit which is the same diameter as your valve stems, vice/clamp, screwdriver for jubilee clips
Creating the "compressor" is pretty simple.
(1) Drill two holes in the top of the bottle (clamp it in the vice to do this), leaving a decent space between the two of them. Cut out the valve stems from the inner tubes, leaving a small amount of the rubber from the tube around the bottom of the stem to aid sealing.
(2) Push an o-ring over each valve, and down to the bottom of the stem, and then insert the valve through the holes in the lid so that the stems will stick out of the bottle top like a pair of antennae. Use the little metal rings that come with innertubes to secure the valve stems to the bottle lid, and to squash the o-rings to form an airtight seal.
(3) Remove the valve core from one of the valve stems, and push the free end of the track pump hose over the top. Secure the hose to the valve stem with a couple of jubilee clips to make sure you have another airtight seal.
(4) Finally, wrap several layers of duct tape around the curve of the bottle at several positions along its length to give it a bit more structural strength.
(5) Test the whole rig-up by filling the bottle with water (an effectively incompressible fluid, and therefore much less capable of storing lots of energy) and then kinking the hose and securing it with the bulldog clip. Attach a track pump to the open valve, and pump up to 120psi. Assuming the pressure doesn't drop, and water doesn't spray everywhere, you have a working tubeless compressor.
To use the compressor, kink the tube near the track pump head, and secure with the bulldog clip. Pump the chamber up to around 120psi, attach the pump head to the valve of the tubeless tyre you're trying to seat, undo the bulldog clip and hopefully the inrush of high pressure air will be enough to seat all but the most stubborn of tyres!
Et voila, a tubeless compressor for a few quid!
Saturday, 31 December 2011
A season to look forward to
It's new year's eve. The tradition on new years is to take stock of the year, decide what has gone well and where you need to improve, and carry that enthusiasm for change into the coming year. But the truth is, i'm too excited about the year ahead to spend long looking back on the past 12 months. As a cursory nod to this most incontravertible tradition, however, i can give a month-by-month review of the year.
January - snow, move, cold, tired, no riding.
February - work, learn, learn more, still cold, ride a bit. Race - mud.
March - sudden warm, ride more, Race- mud, mechanical, Race2 - dry, fast, flat, boring. April - ride with new friends, race with old friends, discover Kemback
May - birthday, more riding, great weather, tanlines
June - Transgermany, crap weather, more riding, great views
July - Rain rain go away, more mechanicals
August - Lost for what to do
September - December: 3 Peaks, blurrrrrr...
Next Year poses something of a change for me, and for the XC community as a whole. The regionalisation of the NPS is a fantastic opportunity for the improvement of racing in the UK, but i suspect its implementation will be less than perfect, and realistically it could represent an initial step backwards for XC. This conveniently coincides with a shift of focus for Team AW as a whole, and also a certain level of, not boredom exactly, but lack of enthusiasm for XC for me. The coming season then will be built around other things. In the main they are: Gorrick Spring Series (these races i'm hoping will form the cornerstone of my early-season speed development - the quality of the Elite/Expert fields almost automatically designates me as an also-ran!), Crystal Palace Crit Series (they're amazingly close to home, and i've always wanted to be able to race crits for training and a bit of bunch-racing practice), CRC Marathon series (well the middle three that don't clash with other grander aims), and then selected other races.
These come mostly from my wishlist of races i have wanted to do for a long time, and in no particular order are:
Roc Lassagais - Part of the UCI Marathon Series in the Cevennes National Park
Stategg Marathon - Another UCI race, but based in Switzerland
Grand Raid Cristalp - depending on how work commitments work out, i really want to give this one a go next year
Kielder 100 - Has to be done again, it really bothered me missing it last year.
But it all kicks off tomorrow, the first race of 2012 is also on the first day - and probably the closest of the whole year too, as Rachel and I head over to Herne Hill to race the new year's day madison. From there, it's a slow, gradual build to April where my rather modest aim is to not be last....
January - snow, move, cold, tired, no riding.
February - work, learn, learn more, still cold, ride a bit. Race - mud.
March - sudden warm, ride more, Race- mud, mechanical, Race2 - dry, fast, flat, boring. April - ride with new friends, race with old friends, discover Kemback
May - birthday, more riding, great weather, tanlines
June - Transgermany, crap weather, more riding, great views
July - Rain rain go away, more mechanicals
August - Lost for what to do
September - December: 3 Peaks, blurrrrrr...
Next Year poses something of a change for me, and for the XC community as a whole. The regionalisation of the NPS is a fantastic opportunity for the improvement of racing in the UK, but i suspect its implementation will be less than perfect, and realistically it could represent an initial step backwards for XC. This conveniently coincides with a shift of focus for Team AW as a whole, and also a certain level of, not boredom exactly, but lack of enthusiasm for XC for me. The coming season then will be built around other things. In the main they are: Gorrick Spring Series (these races i'm hoping will form the cornerstone of my early-season speed development - the quality of the Elite/Expert fields almost automatically designates me as an also-ran!), Crystal Palace Crit Series (they're amazingly close to home, and i've always wanted to be able to race crits for training and a bit of bunch-racing practice), CRC Marathon series (well the middle three that don't clash with other grander aims), and then selected other races.
These come mostly from my wishlist of races i have wanted to do for a long time, and in no particular order are:
Roc Lassagais - Part of the UCI Marathon Series in the Cevennes National Park
Stategg Marathon - Another UCI race, but based in Switzerland
Grand Raid Cristalp - depending on how work commitments work out, i really want to give this one a go next year
Kielder 100 - Has to be done again, it really bothered me missing it last year.
But it all kicks off tomorrow, the first race of 2012 is also on the first day - and probably the closest of the whole year too, as Rachel and I head over to Herne Hill to race the new year's day madison. From there, it's a slow, gradual build to April where my rather modest aim is to not be last....
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Reviews for 2011
TRP CX9 Brakes
Having first noticed the world-cup mtber and technology early-adopter Adam Craig racing 'cross with these brakes a couple of years ago, i have to admit i was intrigued. The old-fashioned logic for 'cross brakes is that the mud clearance afforded by cantis is so much better than even though a v-brake offers more braking power, this is outweighed by their tendency to clog. However, the british cross season is getting earlier each year, and with four races done in a lot of the local leagues by the end of september, there are an increasing number of "dirt crit" races on the calendar, where powerful, confidence-inspiring brakes are really important. For me, the kick i needed to invest in something a bit stronger than my classic froglegs was having my entry to the three peaks accepted. The race in Yorks really doesn't tend to get that muddy (although there were one or two choice exceptions in this year's course after a week of rain), but you definitely want brakes that can scrub off some speed quickly when decending 700m peaks.
First test rides on the Lomond Hills confirmed that they gave better, more stable braking than the froglegs, and even on the wettest, muddiest days, the closer approach of the pad to the rim didn't cause problems. You go faster when you know you can go slower...
Descente Winter Gloves
These were bought for me by my colleagues at TT Electronics before i left, well, they got me the wiggle vouchers i bought them with! They were an absolute godsend up in Scotland, and have made riding even on the coldest days comfortable in the hand department. I don't have the best circulation, and have always found that tight-fitting gloves, whilst excellent for control in the first 10 minutes of a ride, are utterly useless for control when your hands are freezing and feel like a bag of useless sausages anyway! It was with previous experiences of gloves like this in mind that i opted for the waterproof, windproof and rather well fleece-lined, but perhaps rather large and less digit-hugging descente winter gloves. They have performed admirably through two tough winters, and left me with nairy a chilly fingertip over that time - thank goodness it's time to put them away again now though!
High5 Iso Gels
Having been given several boxes of these by AWcycles to get us through our respective summers of racing, Rachel and I amazed ourselves by getting through more or less all of them (apart from a few caffeine-supplemented offerings) by October. The big idea behind the ISO gel is that they're designed to be used with minimal requirement for extra water - most gels recommend that you take on extra fluid with them, in some cases up to 250ml per gel! They're pretty easy to take as they are a lot more fluid than most gels (particularly good for cold days and cross races), although they're not ones to carry with you and not take, as the packaging is a bit fragile, and if you manage to puncture it and leave it in a warm place it tastes pretty rank! Easy on the stomach, i reckon they're a good bet as long as you're not out for a loooong time, as they're pretty heavy per calorie!
Sportful Base Layers
I have become a bit of a fan of sportful kit, they make nice, understated but stylishly Italian kit that doesn't cost the earth. Their undervests are particularly good, wicking sweat away from your skin fast to stop you from getting irritated skin, and runners/cyclists nipple. They're cut nicely so they don't bunch during long rides, and possibly the ultimate compliment i can give is that you just put them on and go. They'll be coming with me to Europe in the coming summer, that's for sure!
Having first noticed the world-cup mtber and technology early-adopter Adam Craig racing 'cross with these brakes a couple of years ago, i have to admit i was intrigued. The old-fashioned logic for 'cross brakes is that the mud clearance afforded by cantis is so much better than even though a v-brake offers more braking power, this is outweighed by their tendency to clog. However, the british cross season is getting earlier each year, and with four races done in a lot of the local leagues by the end of september, there are an increasing number of "dirt crit" races on the calendar, where powerful, confidence-inspiring brakes are really important. For me, the kick i needed to invest in something a bit stronger than my classic froglegs was having my entry to the three peaks accepted. The race in Yorks really doesn't tend to get that muddy (although there were one or two choice exceptions in this year's course after a week of rain), but you definitely want brakes that can scrub off some speed quickly when decending 700m peaks.
First test rides on the Lomond Hills confirmed that they gave better, more stable braking than the froglegs, and even on the wettest, muddiest days, the closer approach of the pad to the rim didn't cause problems. You go faster when you know you can go slower...
Descente Winter Gloves
These were bought for me by my colleagues at TT Electronics before i left, well, they got me the wiggle vouchers i bought them with! They were an absolute godsend up in Scotland, and have made riding even on the coldest days comfortable in the hand department. I don't have the best circulation, and have always found that tight-fitting gloves, whilst excellent for control in the first 10 minutes of a ride, are utterly useless for control when your hands are freezing and feel like a bag of useless sausages anyway! It was with previous experiences of gloves like this in mind that i opted for the waterproof, windproof and rather well fleece-lined, but perhaps rather large and less digit-hugging descente winter gloves. They have performed admirably through two tough winters, and left me with nairy a chilly fingertip over that time - thank goodness it's time to put them away again now though!
High5 Iso Gels
Having been given several boxes of these by AWcycles to get us through our respective summers of racing, Rachel and I amazed ourselves by getting through more or less all of them (apart from a few caffeine-supplemented offerings) by October. The big idea behind the ISO gel is that they're designed to be used with minimal requirement for extra water - most gels recommend that you take on extra fluid with them, in some cases up to 250ml per gel! They're pretty easy to take as they are a lot more fluid than most gels (particularly good for cold days and cross races), although they're not ones to carry with you and not take, as the packaging is a bit fragile, and if you manage to puncture it and leave it in a warm place it tastes pretty rank! Easy on the stomach, i reckon they're a good bet as long as you're not out for a loooong time, as they're pretty heavy per calorie!
Sportful Base Layers
I have become a bit of a fan of sportful kit, they make nice, understated but stylishly Italian kit that doesn't cost the earth. Their undervests are particularly good, wicking sweat away from your skin fast to stop you from getting irritated skin, and runners/cyclists nipple. They're cut nicely so they don't bunch during long rides, and possibly the ultimate compliment i can give is that you just put them on and go. They'll be coming with me to Europe in the coming summer, that's for sure!
Friday, 9 December 2011
The New New Life
So here i am in London. I freely admit that i'm not much of a soothsayer, but i never saw that coming! It seems simultaneously a very long time since i interviewed for a job in St Andrews, and also about five minutes ago. In the last year, i have gone from having a sensible, stable and perhaps most importantly a permanent job with a tech firm in the Cambridge area, to living "proper" village life in rural Fife on a 3-year postdoc contract, to living in suburban London and working on the UCL campus. It's been a whirlwind, i can tell you. Would i change anything. Honestly, probably no.
It's been five weeks since Rachel and I moved south, although she spent a month down here ahead of me "sofa-surfing" with friends, and trying to find us somewhere to live. Five weeks has passed so fast it's not even funny. I have made new friends where i work, caught up with old ones i haven't seen in years, and discovered that it is possible to exercise in London without getting run over, stabbed, or one and then the other. The hills of Kent will likely be my new playground, and although they lack some of the grandeur i have become accustomed to in Scotland, they can provide a stern test of less-than-race fit legs.
My last races up north were the wondefully named "Hairy Coo" xc race at Comrie Croft, run by the equally-wonderfully-named Drovers Tryst, which was run off on a tough little purpose-built course in very Scottish (muddy and with horizontal rain) conditions, followed by a longer looped ride around Glen Tarkie on the sunday. The latter managed to wash the mud out of my eyes from the former, but unfortunately i got a stomach bug from all the grit that had me laid up for a couple of days. I finished 10th in the Hairy Coo, which was won by north-of-the-border stalwart Gareth Montgomerie, and was in 3rd place in the Sunday marathon when i was mis-directed, and ended up doing an extra lap of Glen Tarkie. Ooops.
To blow away the moving cobwebs, Rachel and I decided to sign up for the first round of the Brass Monkeys enduro. It was a total change of scene compared to my previous experiences, there were hundreds of people on the start line, the course was dry, fast and twisty as opposed to being up hill and down dale, and it was nigh impossible to go the wrong way! The general standard of riding was noticeably different too, with southerners clearly favouring fitness over skill in their training, as bottle necks at every tricky section on the first lap proved! Perhaps it was the sheer number of people out on course, and the extra speed that you could get out of your bike on the less epic terrain, but people seemed less friendly and less inclined to let faster riders through too, apparently one guy even challenged someone to a fight for daring to pass! None of these things have ever bothered me much in the past about racing in England, so i must just be oversensitive having had an entirely different experience in Scotland! I tootled around not-really-racing with my lack of fitness on display for all the world to see, and came in a lap down on former teamie Tim Dunford who took a commanding lead in his new Cannondale colours. Rachel got to stand on the box in her race, coming in 3rd and obviously showing less ill effects from moving than me (i like to think....)!
So we're settled. Home is where your bikes rest. Life in London seems simultaneously alien and very familiar; there are unwritten codes to everything from sitting on the bus to cycle commuting that i am only beginning to learn. I keep making the mistake of smiling at people in the street, a hangover from a past life in Arncroach, only to have them avert their eyes from the obvious lunatic. In time, i'll get to grips with it. As Baz Luhrmann says "Live in London once, but leave before it makes you hard" -{Deleted take}.
It's been five weeks since Rachel and I moved south, although she spent a month down here ahead of me "sofa-surfing" with friends, and trying to find us somewhere to live. Five weeks has passed so fast it's not even funny. I have made new friends where i work, caught up with old ones i haven't seen in years, and discovered that it is possible to exercise in London without getting run over, stabbed, or one and then the other. The hills of Kent will likely be my new playground, and although they lack some of the grandeur i have become accustomed to in Scotland, they can provide a stern test of less-than-race fit legs.
My last races up north were the wondefully named "Hairy Coo" xc race at Comrie Croft, run by the equally-wonderfully-named Drovers Tryst, which was run off on a tough little purpose-built course in very Scottish (muddy and with horizontal rain) conditions, followed by a longer looped ride around Glen Tarkie on the sunday. The latter managed to wash the mud out of my eyes from the former, but unfortunately i got a stomach bug from all the grit that had me laid up for a couple of days. I finished 10th in the Hairy Coo, which was won by north-of-the-border stalwart Gareth Montgomerie, and was in 3rd place in the Sunday marathon when i was mis-directed, and ended up doing an extra lap of Glen Tarkie. Ooops.
To blow away the moving cobwebs, Rachel and I decided to sign up for the first round of the Brass Monkeys enduro. It was a total change of scene compared to my previous experiences, there were hundreds of people on the start line, the course was dry, fast and twisty as opposed to being up hill and down dale, and it was nigh impossible to go the wrong way! The general standard of riding was noticeably different too, with southerners clearly favouring fitness over skill in their training, as bottle necks at every tricky section on the first lap proved! Perhaps it was the sheer number of people out on course, and the extra speed that you could get out of your bike on the less epic terrain, but people seemed less friendly and less inclined to let faster riders through too, apparently one guy even challenged someone to a fight for daring to pass! None of these things have ever bothered me much in the past about racing in England, so i must just be oversensitive having had an entirely different experience in Scotland! I tootled around not-really-racing with my lack of fitness on display for all the world to see, and came in a lap down on former teamie Tim Dunford who took a commanding lead in his new Cannondale colours. Rachel got to stand on the box in her race, coming in 3rd and obviously showing less ill effects from moving than me (i like to think....)!
So we're settled. Home is where your bikes rest. Life in London seems simultaneously alien and very familiar; there are unwritten codes to everything from sitting on the bus to cycle commuting that i am only beginning to learn. I keep making the mistake of smiling at people in the street, a hangover from a past life in Arncroach, only to have them avert their eyes from the obvious lunatic. In time, i'll get to grips with it. As Baz Luhrmann says "Live in London once, but leave before it makes you hard" -{Deleted take}.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Playing Catch-up
The title of my post summarises how life has felt since i last wrote here nearly two months ago! Since then, i have done the Scottish champs off the back of my first conference as a condensed matter theorist, followed by eight days in the Hebrides, and then my most & least favourite race of the year, the 3 Peaks Cyclocross. Since then, it's been all-go, i've been trying to fix all the bikes i have incapacitated over the course of the season, glue tubs on cyclocross wheelsets, and clean, tidy and pack the house in anticipation of my second move in a year at the end of the month. Just the thought of all this is leaving me a little tired, and perhaps no wonder! So, let's begin at the beginning.
Up first, the Scottish Champs. I spent the week before the race in my old home town of Cambridge at a conference which involved days spent in seminar rooms, and several lates nights discussing physics (and maybe a few beers). I had initially hoped that i might be able to do the Kielder 100 for the third year on the trot, but the logistics just didn't work out - there was physically no way i could get to the event in time for the start! So my consolation prize was to be the scottish xc champs the day after at Drumlanrig Castle. And what a consolation - i love the venue at Drumlanrig, it's a beautiful setting for a race, and the trails are absolutely superb (even if the last time Rachel and I came here, we had some car-related issues!). The course was pretty familiar from the NPS there in 2008, with many of the same sections (the best bits) laced together in a different order. My only slight complaint would be that the chicken line for one of the tech sections was actually faster than the drop - surely the wrong way around!
Having watched as Rachel raced to a bronze medal in the elite women's race, being beaten by two Commonwealth Games athletes (albeit roadies, pah pah), i started my race with pretty low expectations. The lap was a long one, so it was just my hope to just finish the full race distance before a flying GT rider lapped me (although i didn't know which one...). I felt pitifully slow on the climbs, but was enjoying letting go with the anthem on the rough stuff, and aside from a particularly rude masters rider who spent a while shouting abuse behind me before shoulder-barging me into a tree, my race passed without much company and without much incident. The faster sport riders came storming past, politely i hasten to add, and i just avoided Dave H catching me for a lap to complete the full race distance, albeit in a maratho 2.5hrs! On the plus side, i did break my duck at a scottish race, i finished without mechanical incident, and without getting lapped. A result of sorts!
A fantastic holiday of walking, cycling and generally enjoying the great outdoors in the Outer Hebrides was next on the menu, and is probably the reason i'm not totally insane now. We were unfortunately spared the beautiful views from the top of the only Corbett in the Hebrides by the diabolical weather, but climbing An Clisham sounded like a good plan to prepare for the 3 peaks. Some fantastic sunny days followed, including one spent cycling around the isle of Harris (and buying Harris Tweed...), and getting caught up in a sheep-based traffic jam ensued, and whilst it might not have been perfect preparation, i felt like i was at least able to stomp uphills a little better for what waited next.
The 3 Peaks has been my traditional season-closer - by august, i'm usually sick of XC racing and yearn for something a bit different, which makes it relatively easy to choose between a long trip to Newnham (as great as the course is) and a shorter one to do what is almost certainly the most wacky bike race in the UK! This year was no exception, and as soon as the last round of the scottish xc series was out of the way in July, i told myself that i would concentrate on preparing solely for this race. Rachel and I had a go at hiking up hills with bikes on our shoulders in the Lomonds, and perhaps more importantly tried out our new mini-v brakes coming back down the steep sheep tracks, and through August things seemed to be going pretty well. I intended to start running again, but never really found the time with trying to get some serious work done in my research life, and Rachel's job with Fife council it never really came together. Somewhere in the midst of this i also discovered i was going to move again, this time to London. I'm not sure quite where my enthusiasm for riding my bike went, but certainly the fun in intervals and training hard seemed to have more or less totally evaporated by the beginning of September, and maybe i should have left it there!
Instead, i decided that i had taken an entry for the race, the least i could do (since the organisers returned 150 entries this year!) was to race as best i could so i didn't take the spot of someone more deserving! After a night spent in the field next to the Helwith Bridge pub, race morning dawned grey and overcast. I wasn't worried, both the 3 peaks races i have done previously have been grey and overcast mornings, and have turned into beautiful days out on dry, fast ground. A bit of rain saw us away from the start, and made the sketchy 6 miles on the road a little more nervy with a pack of 600 riders. In spite of much tinkering with my cross bike, i'd had to make a last minute switch of wheels to a spare set with less than appropriate 32mm challenge tubs on (my rear tufo t34 having inexplicably sprung a leak when i was cleaning the bike on saturday morning!). On top of that, the longer chain i had fitted to cope with the 50T front ring, and a 32T rear sprocket decided that the wet was reason enough to fall off. Repeatedly. Before the off road had even begun. Cue a few maternally disapproving comments from Isla Rowntree about the quality of my bike maintenance.
Once we hit the first offroad section at Gill Garth, it was clear that this year was not going to be like the previous times i had done the race. The ground was sodden, and the going very tough. It set the tone for the whole race really, and as fun as it was riding a hugely inappropriate bike through the tough terrain of the yorkshire dales, i just didn't have the drive i had two years ago. My lack of running fitness really hit home as i came across fellow twitterer Dave Haygarth on the descent off Pen-y-Gent; the final one of the three peaks and more of a "riders" climb. He had had an off on the slippery top section, and broken his collarbone, and in spite of spending a lot of time grimacing by the side of the track (you would hope, or he just wouldn't be human!) and then making his way gingerly down the rest of the offroad, he still came in at the same time as me - 4h10m.
Nick Craig made the most of the absence of Rob Jebb to take a runaway victory from Neal Crampton who bettered his previous best with second place. Within a couple of days, the soreness had subsided, and i found myself thinking ahead to next year, when i'll be a bit more settled, and it'll mark the beginning of my first ever "proper" cross season (as opposed to the odd race here and there...).
So time is ticking by, it's less than a month until i move south to start all over again, and it seems like there's an awful lot to do. Better get packing...
Up first, the Scottish Champs. I spent the week before the race in my old home town of Cambridge at a conference which involved days spent in seminar rooms, and several lates nights discussing physics (and maybe a few beers). I had initially hoped that i might be able to do the Kielder 100 for the third year on the trot, but the logistics just didn't work out - there was physically no way i could get to the event in time for the start! So my consolation prize was to be the scottish xc champs the day after at Drumlanrig Castle. And what a consolation - i love the venue at Drumlanrig, it's a beautiful setting for a race, and the trails are absolutely superb (even if the last time Rachel and I came here, we had some car-related issues!). The course was pretty familiar from the NPS there in 2008, with many of the same sections (the best bits) laced together in a different order. My only slight complaint would be that the chicken line for one of the tech sections was actually faster than the drop - surely the wrong way around!
Having watched as Rachel raced to a bronze medal in the elite women's race, being beaten by two Commonwealth Games athletes (albeit roadies, pah pah), i started my race with pretty low expectations. The lap was a long one, so it was just my hope to just finish the full race distance before a flying GT rider lapped me (although i didn't know which one...). I felt pitifully slow on the climbs, but was enjoying letting go with the anthem on the rough stuff, and aside from a particularly rude masters rider who spent a while shouting abuse behind me before shoulder-barging me into a tree, my race passed without much company and without much incident. The faster sport riders came storming past, politely i hasten to add, and i just avoided Dave H catching me for a lap to complete the full race distance, albeit in a maratho 2.5hrs! On the plus side, i did break my duck at a scottish race, i finished without mechanical incident, and without getting lapped. A result of sorts!
A fantastic holiday of walking, cycling and generally enjoying the great outdoors in the Outer Hebrides was next on the menu, and is probably the reason i'm not totally insane now. We were unfortunately spared the beautiful views from the top of the only Corbett in the Hebrides by the diabolical weather, but climbing An Clisham sounded like a good plan to prepare for the 3 peaks. Some fantastic sunny days followed, including one spent cycling around the isle of Harris (and buying Harris Tweed...), and getting caught up in a sheep-based traffic jam ensued, and whilst it might not have been perfect preparation, i felt like i was at least able to stomp uphills a little better for what waited next.
The 3 Peaks has been my traditional season-closer - by august, i'm usually sick of XC racing and yearn for something a bit different, which makes it relatively easy to choose between a long trip to Newnham (as great as the course is) and a shorter one to do what is almost certainly the most wacky bike race in the UK! This year was no exception, and as soon as the last round of the scottish xc series was out of the way in July, i told myself that i would concentrate on preparing solely for this race. Rachel and I had a go at hiking up hills with bikes on our shoulders in the Lomonds, and perhaps more importantly tried out our new mini-v brakes coming back down the steep sheep tracks, and through August things seemed to be going pretty well. I intended to start running again, but never really found the time with trying to get some serious work done in my research life, and Rachel's job with Fife council it never really came together. Somewhere in the midst of this i also discovered i was going to move again, this time to London. I'm not sure quite where my enthusiasm for riding my bike went, but certainly the fun in intervals and training hard seemed to have more or less totally evaporated by the beginning of September, and maybe i should have left it there!
Instead, i decided that i had taken an entry for the race, the least i could do (since the organisers returned 150 entries this year!) was to race as best i could so i didn't take the spot of someone more deserving! After a night spent in the field next to the Helwith Bridge pub, race morning dawned grey and overcast. I wasn't worried, both the 3 peaks races i have done previously have been grey and overcast mornings, and have turned into beautiful days out on dry, fast ground. A bit of rain saw us away from the start, and made the sketchy 6 miles on the road a little more nervy with a pack of 600 riders. In spite of much tinkering with my cross bike, i'd had to make a last minute switch of wheels to a spare set with less than appropriate 32mm challenge tubs on (my rear tufo t34 having inexplicably sprung a leak when i was cleaning the bike on saturday morning!). On top of that, the longer chain i had fitted to cope with the 50T front ring, and a 32T rear sprocket decided that the wet was reason enough to fall off. Repeatedly. Before the off road had even begun. Cue a few maternally disapproving comments from Isla Rowntree about the quality of my bike maintenance.
Once we hit the first offroad section at Gill Garth, it was clear that this year was not going to be like the previous times i had done the race. The ground was sodden, and the going very tough. It set the tone for the whole race really, and as fun as it was riding a hugely inappropriate bike through the tough terrain of the yorkshire dales, i just didn't have the drive i had two years ago. My lack of running fitness really hit home as i came across fellow twitterer Dave Haygarth on the descent off Pen-y-Gent; the final one of the three peaks and more of a "riders" climb. He had had an off on the slippery top section, and broken his collarbone, and in spite of spending a lot of time grimacing by the side of the track (you would hope, or he just wouldn't be human!) and then making his way gingerly down the rest of the offroad, he still came in at the same time as me - 4h10m.
Nick Craig made the most of the absence of Rob Jebb to take a runaway victory from Neal Crampton who bettered his previous best with second place. Within a couple of days, the soreness had subsided, and i found myself thinking ahead to next year, when i'll be a bit more settled, and it'll mark the beginning of my first ever "proper" cross season (as opposed to the odd race here and there...).
So time is ticking by, it's less than a month until i move south to start all over again, and it seems like there's an awful lot to do. Better get packing...
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