The Brooks bar tape I fitted a year or so back is in the process of being retired from the Lemond. Whilst it’s very nice to look at, I just find it too slippery to be comfortable with the majority of gloves I wear. It’s being replaced by the faithful Bontrager Gel tape.
I think I bought mine at the right time, I don’t really like the look of the 2009 version.
2009 Trek 69er Singlespeed
It’s L’Alpe d’Huez day today in the tour, so on the spur of the moment I’ve booked the afternoon off work so I can sit in front of the TV and watch all the action. Should be fun.
It certainly looks like it, and I hope it’s here to stay for a while.
I headed out on the 69er tonight for a spin round the Uni with Al. It’s nice to be riding dusty1 trails in glorious sunshine for a change. A quick 11 miles, then home for a pizza washed down with ice cold lager.
[1] Well, mostly dusty.
It looks like all the pro cycling teams have thrown their toys out of the pram, and professional cycling into disarray, by quitting the ProTour en-mass. No doubt the UCI will now throw their toys around a bit, everyone will blame everyone else, and professional cycling will be the one that loses out.
Whilst I was never convinced that the UCI’s ProTour was a good idea, I have far more respect for the UCI that I do for ASO who look set to pick up the reins.
I did manage 45 minutes of the fixed Tricross earlier in the sunshine despite a dodgy back and shoulder, however my Garmin Edge doesn’t work very well under tree coverage when it’s stuffed in a back pocket. Time to order some more handlebar mounts for it.
I’m sat here trying to force myself to ride to work in the pouring rain. It’s one of those things that you know has got to be done, but it’s not going to be pleasant. Now where’s my Goretex jacket?
Thanks to a ride out via North Stoke, I now have my first proper case of nettle rash of the year. I’d not ridden that route for a couple of years, but the decent from North Stoke to Swineford was as good as ever, although possibly a bit tamer than usual. Either that, or the 69er is smoothing things out nicely.
The downside of the ride was that the footpath between Swineford and the cycle track was very overgrown with loads of nettles down one side and round the gates. Thanks to that I now have annoyingly itchy legs which will no doubt persist for the next few days.
Partly inspired by Andy resurrecting a load of old photos last week, I finally got around to sticking some old photo sets up onto flickr.
A lateish ride tonight. Despite aiming to leave at 6, Al wasn’t actually ready until 7. We did a quick trip round the Uni and Sham Castle in the evening sunshine, it could only have been improved if I’d remembered to stick a couple of cold beers into my bag for a mid-ride stop. Back home by 8:30 in time for a late dinner and the forgotten cans of beer.
Same again tomorrow probably.
30 miles round Chew Valley Lake on the road bike chasing Ian and Brendan. My legs ache now.