I think I can describe these as our daughters early steps in cycling.

I think I can describe these as our daughters early steps in cycling. Not her first outing, but only been on it a handful of times. Starting to get comfortable on it now. Couple of quicker moments were experienced #itwillcome :-)

Well that's it, I have recorded a run on Strava.

Well that's it, I have recorded a run on Strava... the slippery slope to quick and easy exercise lies before me. No risk of breaking any records just yet though :-)
I just ran 2.0 miles! Check it out on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/21949357
http://app.strava.com/activities/21949357

Not a bad average speed considering the fact that I was on my MTB singlespeed, running 32:16 #spintowin :-) short...

Not a bad average speed considering the fact that I was on my MTB singlespeed, running 32:16 #spintowin :-) short blast to collect the car well enjoyed.

Check it out on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/21647853
http://app.strava.com/activities/21647853

It was a beautiful day to be out today, didn't have the bike but there is always next time :-)

It was a beautiful day to be out today, didn't have the bike but there is always next time :-)

Wednesday arrives, yet more school... and a ride!

Another day another dollar/pound/yen (delete as appropriate) in school. Actually went pretty well. Tried a new (for me) way of working with classroom support and it went really well. My right hand woman for two mornings a week took the class and I just worked with two kids who clearly needed some specific help. It was great, almost uninterrupted teaching time and the rest of the class got on really well. That will happen much more often I think...

After school though I barely saw my little girls as it was ride night. Dash home, pack up kit, shoot off to mates house, have tea and get on the bike... and when I say bike I mean the 456 Evo I built up a the weekend.
Now, normally we would ride for an hour and a half to two hours on a Wednesday night, It used to be longer but fatherhood, work and all the other niggles that suck up your time creep in and it slowly shrinks. Not a bad thing, just other priorities have to take over sometimes. Well, thanks to a "misjudgement" by my ride guide (otherwise known as my father in law) we were out for 22 miles, and about 2 and a half hours. On my new, heavier, singlesped bike.

Bloody hell some of those hills went on for a while! According the the (Strava assisted) GPS only about 1,800 feet of climbing, so the GPS in my phone is clearly bust as it must have been much nearer a mile... Shattered by the end of it but, despite the extra weight, and only one gear, and being a hardtail I still managed to pretty much match the only Strava segment I recognised (when you take out the 30s I spent sat at the start as I waited for my ride buddy to start). It rides really well.

It is clearly a bit more slack up front than the Carrera Fury it replaced and than my EX9 but more importantly, it is smaller than the Fury. Although the Fury was a 20" frame, and the 456 is an 18" it is much smaller feeling. Same length chainstays (well, I didn't have to alter the chain as I moved it across) and steel of course, but everything on it apart from the seatpost collar is the same so it is a good comparison. And it really does seem to cope with rocky downhill stuff much more capably than the Fury did. Somehow seems to be able to make more use of the travel available form the (ultra basic) coil Tora 318 that is is sporting.

I got home annoyed that I had been out so much later than I expected, had only taken one light but was out until it got properly dark, but also pretty pleased that despite my lethargy towards the end the bike was still performing pretty well under me. At this point I should probably give some credit to Ed Oxley for the training at the weekend which also certainly helped in the early stages when I was still thinking about what I was doing :-)

All in all a good day, almost worth keeping a diary for ;-)

Oh, and a picture of the bike before the ride.

Oh, my, god... That is amazing :-)

Oh, my, god... That is amazing :-)

Originally shared by Erin Reedy

how do I get me one of these
http://youtu.be/ERQHRo0fHGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERQHRo0fHGE

I have to say, I am delighted that possibly my favourite photographer (and his video stuff looks pretty good so far...

I have to say, I am delighted that possibly my favourite photographer (and his video stuff looks pretty good so far too) has landed on G+, Dan Barham Photography should track him down.
Looking forward to some (more) beautiful imagery landing in my stream...

Tuesday, it's just another day...

Well, the kids were back in school today and fortunately my own kids made sure they got up at about 5:15 and 5:30 to ensure my early get up (alarm at 6 usually) but still occupy my time until my normal alarm time. So no mega early start for me then. Still, all in all a good day. Kids happy to be back, good start on academic work, new kid joining the class looks like they will settle in really well and I even got a chunk of marking done!

Everyone is a winner. Even the "lost phone" scare was resolved, who knew a phone in a nappy wouldn't get signal and therefore not ring when you are trying to find it! Glad it wasn't mine :-)

Oh, and here is a random picture, of my lunch, because I feel like it... (and it had two extra items, care to guess which are the extras?)

As far as opening posts on Google+ go, it's a good 'un!

As far as opening posts on Google+ go, it's a good 'un!

Originally shared by Dan Barham Photography

Operation Start Using Google+ begins.

Monday, the first day back...

Well, summer is over and it is time to return to school. INSET day (IN SErvice Training if you don't know) to bring us back up to speed for the next year. As we all move our classes up half a term early the summer break is only a half term academically, but it does still take some revving back up from.

Not much to say really, good to see people again, missing my family for only the second time in weeks, that I can think of. Good to get back home though.

Cycle commuting should be back on this week, although probably only one day, Friday is looking most likely although we have an after school event on Thursday that might scupper that one. I don't think I will be able to transport a PA and radio station on the bike, trailer or no!

Sunday catch-up, the big bike build...

Didn't get round to posting yesterdays diary entry, so here it is.

I built up my bike, he blue On-One 456 Evo that I got for my birthday. Took all the bits of my old Carrera Fury (and no, I didn't clean them) to get it running. Went pretty smoothly apart from...

The adaptor in the headset press got stuck inside the bottom cup an wouldn't come out, until I froze it, with frozen chilli...

The drive side external BB cup kept trying to cross thread, so I had to fit the non-drive side, then the crank (from the wrong side) to guide the drive side on straight.

The DMR single speed tensioner has a "bit" in the dropout to stop it rotating, which is thicker than the dropout on the steel 456 frame, so it was fouling the wheel, hacksaw deployed... Followed by a conical v-brake washer to space the bolt so it didn't also foul the wheel when done up.

Oh, and the seat clamp from my old bike was too big...

Pretty smooth otherwise :-)

The Belgian GP was pretty good as well but I missed some as I played with the bike build. Hoping for a seat clamp before Wednesday and the Wednesday night ride, might actually need some lights this time...

Stop Crashing and international rescue!

Well, shortly after yesterdays blog my mobile rang, and it was my dad calling, from a mobile phone... Means nothing to you, means something has gone wrong to me, and boy had it gone wrong!

Essentially, they were on a motor rail train hat stopped, the attendant told them they had an hour, so hey went for a short walk, back in plenty of time to find the train... gone. Yep, car, clothes, passports, everything, gone. They were bundled into a taxi to catch up with the train, but the taxi went to the wrong station, they found when the train didn't arrive.

Cue the phone call and the ensuing efforts to find a way to get them from Bruchsal in Germany to Basel in Switzerland, trains, planes and taxis (OK, automobiles) all failed, as did the battery in their phone eventually... Cue a very late night and little sleep,  before getting up early for a mountain biking course. Stop Crashing 1 with Ed Oxley of Great Rock.

Great day! I can't do anything I couldn't do before, apart from rolling a significant (to me) drop off. I am however much better at everything I could do. Smoother, more efficient feeling. I am now however knackered so, parents have a plan, and I need to ride more, so night night :-)