Oval time

I finally received my Garbaruk GRX Oval chainring from Poland last week. About 3 days delivery via DHL from there once they had processed my order after New Year. Quite impressive given the issues I've seen around some deliveries from the EU since Brexit. Today was the first chance I had to fit it. First …

Monk mode engaged

Its that New Year, New Me bollocks time of the year. I've really let my (lack of) hair down over the festive period. I mean really gone to town on the booze and food and as much as I like it at the time, I'm now sick of it so time to bring some order …

2020 Numbers, 2021 plans

I haven't paid any attention to Strava or VeloViewer over the last six months only to occasionally update my rides after a bulk upload saved on my Garmin. I knew I was down on previous years but today I finally dug into the numbers to see how bad it was The bad news is I …

My Cycling Revelations of 2020

I've been riding a bike seriously for over 30 years and I can honestly say, every year I learn something new. It might be a useful tech innovation, a gadget or something different to try in training. This year has been no exception despite not being a normal one. Here are my 5 cycling revelations …

Fail

So let's just get this done. My name is Paul and I FAILed my 2020 Resolution Ride Challenge. At the back end of last year fellow blogger tempocyclist came up with the unique challenge to undertake a 100km ride every calendar month. Great idea. Just twelve rides. It resonated with me, it was achievable, so …

The Missing Oval

I've been a long term fan of oval rings. I tried them when I had my cycle shop and fell in love with them so much so I'd go as far to say probably pound-for-pound one of the best upgrades you can pop on your bike. Thats a BOLD statement and I have no personal, …

Review: Galibier Barrier Deep Winter Gloves

First up, it's been a while since my last blog in November. Life just gets in the way sometimes but now I have a week off I'll be posting a couple more blogs and getting back into the weekly routine again in the new year. Right, so let's talk about these gloves. Given to me …

Colour for the soul

Its November. It's dark, it's drab. I can be impulsive sometimes. I fancied a bit of colour. So I did. I rode to Sutton Coldfield last week and picked up a slow puncture. Standard setup. Check the tyre, change the tube, get back on my way except this was one of those rare fuck ups. …

Commuting is stressful

At least once a week I'll ride 20 miles across the city of Birmingham to Sutton Coldfield and back. It takes about 80 mins one way and is one of the most stressful things I do. I leave about 7.45am in the morning and depending on how I feel I'll immediately play in traffic on …

Wahoo! New Toy

Not so long ago I almost gave up the turbo trainer. Mojo waning and an unused Zwift subscription leaving my bank account every month meant indoor rides were sometimes working out at £3 & £4 each! Madness. Fast forward to October's miserable, cold, dark nights again and the mojo for the rack was back on …