So it's been another long while since a post. To be honest, not much out of the ordinary has happened, no epic climbs or long distances.
What has happened is my German course has started. What this means (aside from the fact that I might actually learn some more of the language) is that I have a 17 km each way commute four days a week, which I'm doing on the fixie. It's been getting pretty much all of the kilometers I've been cycling lately since I was hit at the start of the month. Not cos the new bike is broken or anything, more just circumstances. I trust that Munich is a low crime city, but maybe not low enough to leave a full carbon fiber bike outside for a few hours...
So, I basically have a commuting week of around 160 km, which is nice. I've only actually hit that once, for a few reasons, but it should bounce up again from next week. Max distance in the last month was 225 in a week, the week we had out betriebausflug in work, which meant a few of us did 65 km (with me on the fixie) around some lakes and the river Isar. It was a fabulous day to be out on the bike, with some nice small climbs in (which I somehow managed on the fixie, much to everybody's incredulity).
On a somewhat different note, this weekend sees the target shooting world cup come to Munich :) I've got a weekend ticket to watch the matches and any finals that are on, which should be good. Not to mention that the GB and Irish teams have arranged to meet up :) Should be a good weekend!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Long day.
Warning; Incredibly long post with no pics!
I had a nice day out planned; lovely flat 110 km to fully recover from last weekend. However, it was not to be. About one kilometer from the flat, I came up behind a car, which then stopped in the middle of the road. Thinking this odd, I moved up around it (on the inside). Suddenly, a nice strong engine rev told me I was going down. I went down. Now, normally, this would be totally my fault, having moved around. However, there were no indicators flashing, before or afterwards (yes, I checked, instincts and all that), and the fact that I was almost clear of the car means I was well visible, had he checked.
The conversation afterwards was somewhat interesting;
Driver; You were going too fast.
Me; No, I wasn't. (10 km/hr)
I didn't see your indicators.
Driver; ...
*motions to wife to check side of car*
Me; is it ok? (somewhat incredulously)
Driver; It is ok. *stares at me*
*Gets back into car and drives off*
It was really weird. I mean, he just kept looking at me. I dunno if he was expecting an apology or what, but he certainly wasn't getting it. I was a hell of a lot more concerned about any damage to me and the bike. Very odd experience.
As it turns out, most things were ok. I have a few scrapes, a bit of road rash, but nothing huge. The bike was a little worse off; wheel a few mm out of true, rear derailleur took a bit of a knock, getting me worried about needing a new one. An hour's work learning how to true a wheel and that problem was solved, and some time reindexing the RD had that sorted. It's possibly a little out of alignment, but it shifts fine for the moment. I'll get a tool to adjust it properly at some point.
So, what have we learned;
Don't assume a motorist won't turn, despite lack of indicators.
Don't pass up the inside when they're stopped, they're liable to do anything. Also, it leaves you somewhat exposed and also leaves a lot of the blame, or at least potential for it, on you.
The first one is something that I've never encountered before. To me, if you don't have the indicators on, you're not turning, and that's what I would assume applies across the board. So, after seeing the situation of a motorist stopped in the middle of the road, with no oncoming traffic, no signals, I did what seemed most natural and moved up on the side with the most space. Unfortunately, this was the side he was turning. Could easily have been the other side, just got unlucky today.
On the second, I probably should have stopped behind him. That said, one doesn't have to think too hard for reasons that somebody would arbitrarily stop in the middle of the road. I don't know enough about the ROTR in Ireland, never mind Germany, to know if I would have been held at fault in this situation. Yes, I moved around from the back, but it's not like I was invisible. He had no indicators on and almost certainly didn't bother to check for anybody coming from behind.
The main thing that P***ed me off about the whole thing was the accusation that it was my fault for going too fast. Which is utter crap. GPS data shows that I was, at most, doing about 12 km/hr on that street, a lot less when I was behind him. I was well alongside the car before he started to turn; there was nothing I could have done at any speed.
Anyway, excitement aside, it turned out to be a not too bad day all in all. I did around 40 km on the fixie, heading into Munich to find where my German course is on for the next two months and taking a nice scenic route back out along the river and through the English Gardens. Also, I now know how to true wheels, which is one of the few things that I didn't know how to do. I think the only thing that I haven't done/been shown how to do is replacing a headset, but there's a specific tool for that, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Maintaining one's own bike is a lot of fun!
Finally, adding up my total distances so far this year, I've recorded just over 1600 km so far. Which isn't exactly impressive, but should ramp up pretty fast over the next few months. I should have about 6000 done by the end of the year, all going well. I'm already over the euro/km limit for my bikes, so the next goal is adding in all the other crap that comes with them and reducing the costs then :) Next year will see my price/km travelled come down nicely.
So yeah, that's about it. Hopefully the commute to Munich will go well for the week. And that I'll be able to handle the 34 odd km four days a week, on top of normal work and a long weekend spin!
I had a nice day out planned; lovely flat 110 km to fully recover from last weekend. However, it was not to be. About one kilometer from the flat, I came up behind a car, which then stopped in the middle of the road. Thinking this odd, I moved up around it (on the inside). Suddenly, a nice strong engine rev told me I was going down. I went down. Now, normally, this would be totally my fault, having moved around. However, there were no indicators flashing, before or afterwards (yes, I checked, instincts and all that), and the fact that I was almost clear of the car means I was well visible, had he checked.
The conversation afterwards was somewhat interesting;
Driver; You were going too fast.
Me; No, I wasn't. (10 km/hr)
I didn't see your indicators.
Driver; ...
*motions to wife to check side of car*
Me; is it ok? (somewhat incredulously)
Driver; It is ok. *stares at me*
*Gets back into car and drives off*
It was really weird. I mean, he just kept looking at me. I dunno if he was expecting an apology or what, but he certainly wasn't getting it. I was a hell of a lot more concerned about any damage to me and the bike. Very odd experience.
As it turns out, most things were ok. I have a few scrapes, a bit of road rash, but nothing huge. The bike was a little worse off; wheel a few mm out of true, rear derailleur took a bit of a knock, getting me worried about needing a new one. An hour's work learning how to true a wheel and that problem was solved, and some time reindexing the RD had that sorted. It's possibly a little out of alignment, but it shifts fine for the moment. I'll get a tool to adjust it properly at some point.
So, what have we learned;
Don't assume a motorist won't turn, despite lack of indicators.
Don't pass up the inside when they're stopped, they're liable to do anything. Also, it leaves you somewhat exposed and also leaves a lot of the blame, or at least potential for it, on you.
The first one is something that I've never encountered before. To me, if you don't have the indicators on, you're not turning, and that's what I would assume applies across the board. So, after seeing the situation of a motorist stopped in the middle of the road, with no oncoming traffic, no signals, I did what seemed most natural and moved up on the side with the most space. Unfortunately, this was the side he was turning. Could easily have been the other side, just got unlucky today.
On the second, I probably should have stopped behind him. That said, one doesn't have to think too hard for reasons that somebody would arbitrarily stop in the middle of the road. I don't know enough about the ROTR in Ireland, never mind Germany, to know if I would have been held at fault in this situation. Yes, I moved around from the back, but it's not like I was invisible. He had no indicators on and almost certainly didn't bother to check for anybody coming from behind.
The main thing that P***ed me off about the whole thing was the accusation that it was my fault for going too fast. Which is utter crap. GPS data shows that I was, at most, doing about 12 km/hr on that street, a lot less when I was behind him. I was well alongside the car before he started to turn; there was nothing I could have done at any speed.
Anyway, excitement aside, it turned out to be a not too bad day all in all. I did around 40 km on the fixie, heading into Munich to find where my German course is on for the next two months and taking a nice scenic route back out along the river and through the English Gardens. Also, I now know how to true wheels, which is one of the few things that I didn't know how to do. I think the only thing that I haven't done/been shown how to do is replacing a headset, but there's a specific tool for that, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Maintaining one's own bike is a lot of fun!
Finally, adding up my total distances so far this year, I've recorded just over 1600 km so far. Which isn't exactly impressive, but should ramp up pretty fast over the next few months. I should have about 6000 done by the end of the year, all going well. I'm already over the euro/km limit for my bikes, so the next goal is adding in all the other crap that comes with them and reducing the costs then :) Next year will see my price/km travelled come down nicely.
So yeah, that's about it. Hopefully the commute to Munich will go well for the week. And that I'll be able to handle the 34 odd km four days a week, on top of normal work and a long weekend spin!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Welsh Airgun Open
The call for entries to this match has been put out. As usual, it's set in the beautiful city of Cardiff, which I've gotten to know reasonably well over the years :D Historically, it's been one of the (few) abroad (rather than international) matches that DURC has sent a team to. It really gives great experience to any shooter who goes over, be they a novice or senior shooter.
To this end, I am throwing down the gauntlet to myself; try to get to this match. If I can at least get a range to train in sorted within a month, then I'm going for it. Three months of training should be plenty to get me back into the swing of it. Hell, I've shot some of my best matches on much less prep after a break! OK, air rifle may be a bit different, but I have the basic skills, it's just getting some WD40 on them to loosen myself up a little. Or not, as the case is...
This was in my plan to do this year anyway, though the specific goals will have to be rearranged somewhat, I suspect. I won't know my current status until into August, so that's something of an issue, but, as usual, the aim is an MQS, or 570ish. More realistically, and based on how I was doing the last time I took air rifle seriously, maybe 550-560 with good training.
Let's roll.
To this end, I am throwing down the gauntlet to myself; try to get to this match. If I can at least get a range to train in sorted within a month, then I'm going for it. Three months of training should be plenty to get me back into the swing of it. Hell, I've shot some of my best matches on much less prep after a break! OK, air rifle may be a bit different, but I have the basic skills, it's just getting some WD40 on them to loosen myself up a little. Or not, as the case is...
This was in my plan to do this year anyway, though the specific goals will have to be rearranged somewhat, I suspect. I won't know my current status until into August, so that's something of an issue, but, as usual, the aim is an MQS, or 570ish. More realistically, and based on how I was doing the last time I took air rifle seriously, maybe 550-560 with good training.
Let's roll.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Test TT
I decided that I'd do a test time trial today, just for the laugh. I have a good set of aero bars that I've only used once, in the rain, so I decided to give them a whirl.
Set out with the intention of keeping the heart rate at about 160 bpm, or thereabouts, high enough to get a decent effort out of the ride, but low enough to get me through and not collapse after. This end of things more or less went to plan, lots of bouncing between 160 and 180, which is to be expected for the heat of the day, and the fact that I'm not used to constant power outputs.
What I was surprised at was my ability to hold speed. I mean, the aero-bars make a huge difference! My position isn't great cos my shoulders started to hurt after about 30 mins. Not a bad hurting, but the kind you get from leaning on a desk poorly for a while. Overall, I completed the first 16 km in 28 mins 40 or so, which seems to be an alright time. I was held up at a traffic light for a min or so, which kinda ruined things, but other than that it was pretty nice sailing. No downhills to help me out, either.
So, now I have a base time. Maybe weekly comparisons to track progress for this kind of distance would be good. A 1 hr effort is possibly a bit much for the moment, though it really would show a lot. And I could have a good idea of how I perform at threshold power. This calculator puts me at around 190 Watts for the effort, though it does assume a good aero position, which I most likely don't have... Unfortunately, that's one metric I'm a while away from justifying, so guestimates will have to suffice. Once I get a bit more consistent with the perceived efforts, I can start looking at a 40 km TT :) Then come the deep section wheels, pointy hat... :P
Set out with the intention of keeping the heart rate at about 160 bpm, or thereabouts, high enough to get a decent effort out of the ride, but low enough to get me through and not collapse after. This end of things more or less went to plan, lots of bouncing between 160 and 180, which is to be expected for the heat of the day, and the fact that I'm not used to constant power outputs.
What I was surprised at was my ability to hold speed. I mean, the aero-bars make a huge difference! My position isn't great cos my shoulders started to hurt after about 30 mins. Not a bad hurting, but the kind you get from leaning on a desk poorly for a while. Overall, I completed the first 16 km in 28 mins 40 or so, which seems to be an alright time. I was held up at a traffic light for a min or so, which kinda ruined things, but other than that it was pretty nice sailing. No downhills to help me out, either.
So, now I have a base time. Maybe weekly comparisons to track progress for this kind of distance would be good. A 1 hr effort is possibly a bit much for the moment, though it really would show a lot. And I could have a good idea of how I perform at threshold power. This calculator puts me at around 190 Watts for the effort, though it does assume a good aero position, which I most likely don't have... Unfortunately, that's one metric I'm a while away from justifying, so guestimates will have to suffice. Once I get a bit more consistent with the perceived efforts, I can start looking at a 40 km TT :) Then come the deep section wheels, pointy hat... :P
Sunday, June 27, 2010
New distance pb :)
140 km today! In two parts; one, looping around some of the mountains and back for 125 km (plus a bit at the start to get onto my plotted course), and then 15 to get home from Munich itself. Town was, eh, busy, shall we say.
So, got out the door around 10ish, aiming to do this route. Took a train south for about 1.5 hours, trying to get as close as possible to the mountains. Rolling out, everything was going well, nice pace, hammering away well. Not noticing any inclines I was on til I couldn't turn the pedals any more and had to drop down to the small ring :D
The first 45 km passed well. The countryside around Munich is gorgeous, very quiet, lots of rolling terrain. Cows with cowbells. Very few cars for the most part, which is also nice. There was nothing particularly challenging about the cycle, mostly just a long steady drag up. Apart from a few sharper sections.
The last climb I did was pretty short, but also fairly steep. I've always wanted to do a hairpinned climb, they just look so cool and there's so much up crammed into a really short space. I was so wrong. It's so tough, rounding corners and seeing another three rows of up... Nah, who am I kidding. It was fantastic. The sense of satisfaction when you see that crest, knowing there's a 5% down gradient on the other side. Feeling the burn in your legs as they want to cramp up and leave, telling them to shut up. Must get to some longer climbs, once the legs forgive me for today.
The descents were fantastic, hairpins galore. Drivers were normally pretty courteous on these, allowing me to use the full lane to get around. If I had been stuck to the side of the road, things would have been a lot more difficult.
All was going well for the first 90 km. I covered these, which was most of the climbing, in under 3.5 hours. Then, I met the man with the hammer. He has a big hammer, and is not afraid to use it. Repeatedly. The legs let me know they had enough and were calling it day. Still 35 more km to go until the train station to get home... Oh well, more shut up legs, stick it into the small ring, and crawl. Took me almost two hours to cover that last 35 km. I dunno how many times I stopped. Twice to stretch out cramps, once to get some anti-bonk juice, also known as cola-orange mix and some jelly babies. The sugar really pulled me through the last few km.
Once I got to the train station, I hopped on a train back to Munich. Slept for a while, then off in the city center. Maybe not the best idea for the day that was in it :D The place was packed, so I decided to cycle the 15 km back home. The atmosphere in town was amazing, Germany really celebrates when they win! Crowds for miles. Weaving through them on the bike was fun :D
Miraculously, the rest on the train seemed to do the trick, the 15 km home passed without incident. Also, I have discovered the greatest recovery food; steak sandwich, chips and milk. Nom. Now, to find the best place to break this record...
So, got out the door around 10ish, aiming to do this route. Took a train south for about 1.5 hours, trying to get as close as possible to the mountains. Rolling out, everything was going well, nice pace, hammering away well. Not noticing any inclines I was on til I couldn't turn the pedals any more and had to drop down to the small ring :D
The first 45 km passed well. The countryside around Munich is gorgeous, very quiet, lots of rolling terrain. Cows with cowbells. Very few cars for the most part, which is also nice. There was nothing particularly challenging about the cycle, mostly just a long steady drag up. Apart from a few sharper sections.
The last climb I did was pretty short, but also fairly steep. I've always wanted to do a hairpinned climb, they just look so cool and there's so much up crammed into a really short space. I was so wrong. It's so tough, rounding corners and seeing another three rows of up... Nah, who am I kidding. It was fantastic. The sense of satisfaction when you see that crest, knowing there's a 5% down gradient on the other side. Feeling the burn in your legs as they want to cramp up and leave, telling them to shut up. Must get to some longer climbs, once the legs forgive me for today.
The descents were fantastic, hairpins galore. Drivers were normally pretty courteous on these, allowing me to use the full lane to get around. If I had been stuck to the side of the road, things would have been a lot more difficult.
All was going well for the first 90 km. I covered these, which was most of the climbing, in under 3.5 hours. Then, I met the man with the hammer. He has a big hammer, and is not afraid to use it. Repeatedly. The legs let me know they had enough and were calling it day. Still 35 more km to go until the train station to get home... Oh well, more shut up legs, stick it into the small ring, and crawl. Took me almost two hours to cover that last 35 km. I dunno how many times I stopped. Twice to stretch out cramps, once to get some anti-bonk juice, also known as cola-orange mix and some jelly babies. The sugar really pulled me through the last few km.
Once I got to the train station, I hopped on a train back to Munich. Slept for a while, then off in the city center. Maybe not the best idea for the day that was in it :D The place was packed, so I decided to cycle the 15 km back home. The atmosphere in town was amazing, Germany really celebrates when they win! Crowds for miles. Weaving through them on the bike was fun :D
Miraculously, the rest on the train seemed to do the trick, the 15 km home passed without incident. Also, I have discovered the greatest recovery food; steak sandwich, chips and milk. Nom. Now, to find the best place to break this record...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I take it back
I take it all back. The Planet-X is fabulous. Accelerating, rolling, stopping, all fantastic. What also strikes me is that the frame fits quite well. The seat tube is a little on the short side (there's a LOT of seatpost showing) but the top tube is spot on, which is what counts.
I've started to get used to gears again. There have been a few times that I feel the chain skip off the cassette when I'm spinning too slowly in too low a gear, but I should get the swing of it soon enough. Being able to control how much effort you expend is very cool. I will confess to abusing the freewheel a little bit, but I'll stop that from now on since there's no reason for it, other than novelty factor.
I've taken it for two proper spins at this point. One yesterday to just give it a normal go and see what happened, and a recovery spin today. Both spins were really nice. It rolls so smoothly, despite nastyish cycle paths and roads in spots. Acceleration is nice, thanks to having gears. The brakes, though weight-weenie brakes actually have a pretty good stopping power. Certainly much better than the Tektro brake/lever combination on my fixie.
It rocks. Totally. End of :D
Now that I have that finally sorted, it's time to get back into shooting again. It's been too long, and I'm starting to miss it now. For some reason, I've never doubted my ability to come back. Probably cos I've had about 3 of them so far, certainly in air rifle :P I had 3 months (minimum!) off last year for my exams, so 6 shouldn't be too much hastle. The skills are all still there, they'll just be a little rusty. Certainly my general and core fitness, stability, strength and flexibility have all increased due to cycling and running. May need some balance work, though, those particular skills haven't been used in some time... Will inform when I make contact :)
I've started to get used to gears again. There have been a few times that I feel the chain skip off the cassette when I'm spinning too slowly in too low a gear, but I should get the swing of it soon enough. Being able to control how much effort you expend is very cool. I will confess to abusing the freewheel a little bit, but I'll stop that from now on since there's no reason for it, other than novelty factor.
I've taken it for two proper spins at this point. One yesterday to just give it a normal go and see what happened, and a recovery spin today. Both spins were really nice. It rolls so smoothly, despite nastyish cycle paths and roads in spots. Acceleration is nice, thanks to having gears. The brakes, though weight-weenie brakes actually have a pretty good stopping power. Certainly much better than the Tektro brake/lever combination on my fixie.
It rocks. Totally. End of :D
Now that I have that finally sorted, it's time to get back into shooting again. It's been too long, and I'm starting to miss it now. For some reason, I've never doubted my ability to come back. Probably cos I've had about 3 of them so far, certainly in air rifle :P I had 3 months (minimum!) off last year for my exams, so 6 shouldn't be too much hastle. The skills are all still there, they'll just be a little rusty. Certainly my general and core fitness, stability, strength and flexibility have all increased due to cycling and running. May need some balance work, though, those particular skills haven't been used in some time... Will inform when I make contact :)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
And so, it ends...
Nothing serious, like, I'm just talking about the lengthy saga of actually getting a road bike!
I decided to get one about a year ago, but, due to financial constraints and there never being any bikes in my size in any shop in Dublin, I held off. Finally, I placed my order about two months ago or so. However, when it arrived last week, there was a small issue;
However, this was easily solved by the addition of this to the equation.
Finally, we have a wheel sitting nicely in its dropout and a new mech hanger to attach :)
Giving us something that looks like this.
And a little more aero-barred up.
I have little intention of using the aero-bars that much for the next while, I just wanted to try them out. I got them for longer distance stuff so I'd have some more hand positions and something to collapse onto when I get particularly tired :D They'l also come in useful if I do any time trials or triathlons, both of which I intend to do at some point. Cos, you know, I can't get enough punishment from doing 3p...
On the road it's... strange. Very strange, in fact. I've gotten very used to my fixed gear with 175 mm cranks. Now, I have about 15 usable gears, and 172.5 mm cranks. And yes, those 2.5 mm actually make a lot of difference. It just feels like I'm not putting out the same torque with each turn, which is correct. And changing gears doesn't quite compensate either. It'll certainly take some getting used to. Forgetting the initial shock of having a freewheel and not actually having to compensate for this when starting off, it's a damn nice bike. It rolls really well, and I can really tell the weight difference between that and the fixie (it's about 2.5 kg lighter, with pedals, cages and computer). The first time I took it out, I didn't feel like I was going that fast, but with the same feeling the second time, I was doing my usual 30+ kmph speed, into a horrible headwind, in driving rain.
On that second time I did one of my usual 20 km loops slightly slower than the fixie, but the fixie ride was done pushing for a time, in good conditions. Given the same incentive, I reckon I should be well able to blow it out of the water. I'm looking into finding a nice 16 km stretch of road that I can use for some prolonged higher intensity stuff (16 km being 10 miles, which is a standard time trial distance).
More pics of both bikes and of the room they now have (well, for a week) can be found here.
Didn't get out for a long spin on it this week, due to being knackered and fed up of getting soaked, but should get out a fair bit during this week. There's a large conference on that most people form work are gone to, so it'll be a nice quiet week for a change!
I decided to get one about a year ago, but, due to financial constraints and there never being any bikes in my size in any shop in Dublin, I held off. Finally, I placed my order about two months ago or so. However, when it arrived last week, there was a small issue;
I have little intention of using the aero-bars that much for the next while, I just wanted to try them out. I got them for longer distance stuff so I'd have some more hand positions and something to collapse onto when I get particularly tired :D They'l also come in useful if I do any time trials or triathlons, both of which I intend to do at some point. Cos, you know, I can't get enough punishment from doing 3p...
On the road it's... strange. Very strange, in fact. I've gotten very used to my fixed gear with 175 mm cranks. Now, I have about 15 usable gears, and 172.5 mm cranks. And yes, those 2.5 mm actually make a lot of difference. It just feels like I'm not putting out the same torque with each turn, which is correct. And changing gears doesn't quite compensate either. It'll certainly take some getting used to. Forgetting the initial shock of having a freewheel and not actually having to compensate for this when starting off, it's a damn nice bike. It rolls really well, and I can really tell the weight difference between that and the fixie (it's about 2.5 kg lighter, with pedals, cages and computer). The first time I took it out, I didn't feel like I was going that fast, but with the same feeling the second time, I was doing my usual 30+ kmph speed, into a horrible headwind, in driving rain.
On that second time I did one of my usual 20 km loops slightly slower than the fixie, but the fixie ride was done pushing for a time, in good conditions. Given the same incentive, I reckon I should be well able to blow it out of the water. I'm looking into finding a nice 16 km stretch of road that I can use for some prolonged higher intensity stuff (16 km being 10 miles, which is a standard time trial distance).
More pics of both bikes and of the room they now have (well, for a week) can be found here.
Didn't get out for a long spin on it this week, due to being knackered and fed up of getting soaked, but should get out a fair bit during this week. There's a large conference on that most people form work are gone to, so it'll be a nice quiet week for a change!
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