The Hidden Trail

The sun is out!

2008-08-30T19:13:00.003+01:00

I love the sun

Lay in, get up, courier a monitor to Donnas work as they have an emergency, come home, blazing sunshine, drag crossbike out of garage, head off to Beaulieu (random destination).

26 miles at a half decent pace, lovely weather, beautifully quiet roads once outside Southampton (which was comically snarled up), Tea and Scones (and wasps), lovely old lady who loved the colour of the Merida and had watched the track cycling at the Olympics - "I bet there loads like you who got into cycling because of the olympics" - Cheeky!

Had a butchers around the classic garage, sat on the side of the lake and basked in the sun, rode home - Ace!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timcave/sets/72157607023466598/

Merida Cross Special - Initial thoughts

2008-06-05T14:44:00.004+01:00

Had my first proper ride on the Merida last night - 26 miles back from work on the back roads over the downs, although I use the word 'road' with some difficulty as I think the actual downs themselves would have been smoother and less gritty! Took me just under 2 hrs door to door, and underlined how unfit I am at the mo - I felt really quite shattered riding back up the hill too my house. Lovely weather for riding in as well, would have been nicer if I didn't have a headwind for most of the route though...

Verdict - surprisingly comfy to ride, I can sit in the drops and on the hoods comfortably and it doesn't feel like a barge as its quite short. Everything shifts cleanly and the brakes seem to be getting better as they bed in, but still not as good as I'd have thought they should be. The drop of the bars is spot on, but the shape of the drop isn't that comfortable - you feel there should be something to seat the palm of your hand on - might experiment with some extra layers of bar tape to create a lump to sit your hand on.

I've noticed my baggies get a bit annoying when your sat in the saddle for ages as they move around - much more noticeable on a road bike as on an MTB you move around a lot more - the chamois on my Alturas feels like its been sown in too far forward. Still much better than sweating in lycra plus overshorts though.

Feels quite fast, the Schwalbe Scout knobblies weren't too bad on the road and everything worked as it should. Got a rattling cable I need to silence though. I was quite glad of the triple on a couple of the steep climbs too, shamefully (despite originally not thinking I'd need it), but mainly to save my legs as hadn't ridden the route before and was toying with reversing it the next morning.

The bar-top levers I'm less convinced by - despite initially seeing them as a good idea - they seem to offer very little leverage so you have to really haul them on, and also make it as if your riding with 10" bars, which isn't exactly good for stability - especially off-road. I'll leave them on for the moment, but can't see me keeping them on for good.

Wimped out this morning and ride the 2 miles to the station and got the train in and then 3 miles in to work from there up Bell Hill - good samaritan here helped a lady and a daughter by pumping up their tyres on the train. Well i would have if the girls rear tyre didn't go straight back down again, and the ladies bikes rear valve wasn't pretty much parallel to the rim, stopping me from getting a pump in. Another commuter on a nice Kona Kilauea tried hers too but in the end we both admitted defeat. FAIL

OOH , i forgot, it also had a little sticker on the top-tube saying something like:

"Warning, as you are obviously a midget, don't sue us when you turn a corner and the wheel hits your foot and you crash horribly - its not our fault you cant reach the bars or pedals of a normal sized bike, you twatting freak"

or something along those lines....

Commuting

2008-06-03T14:21:00.003+01:00

Just spent lunchtime plotting the best commute route - 26 miles staying away from main roads as much as possible:

Although the elevation looks fun!

Might be old, but it made me smile

2008-06-02T15:41:00.002+01:00

Merida Cross Special

2008-05-29T21:30:00.001+01:00

IMG_0397
Originally uploaded by Tim Cave

Woo its here, finally.

Bit of a bastard really - Merida Speeder frame with cross components, but seems to work really well as far as i can tell . Only thing I could get in my size and price range anyway. Not ridden it yet so cant really say much about it, but the fit is nice and comfy - everything seems (at first) to sit where it should.

Oh and it has a triple and suicide levers, just for Simon :-)

Although to be honest I should have asked for a double, as i never use a granny, even on the 456 (the bb is too short on that anyway!) starters

Afan - nearly a year ago!

2008-05-16T10:19:00.002+01:00

Play it cool guys :-)

Wake Up

2008-04-14T12:25:00.005+01:00

I'd pretty much forgotten this existed

Just been on a lovely week long trip to Newquay (pics linked over on my Flickr site)

The week of excess living has led me to come home feeling slightly down about being home, and has spurred me to get healthy, so yesterday I went for a run - 2.9 miles.

Last night lying in bed with sore legs I decided that I need some goal to achieve - so from now on i will be doing a 30-in-30 - that is going out and doing some decent exercise, be that riding, swimming or running for an average of at least once a day for 30 days (I can't really be sure i'll have enough time everyday due to work and homelife, so an average of 30 is the best I can do).

Lets see how I get on :-)
--------
Update -

15.04.08

I made it two days in a row - ran 1.5 miles last night, and then a further 2.6 miles riding to the pub and back :-)

does that count?
--------
16.04.08 - Nothing, nada, zilch (-1)

17.04.08 - 2.5 Mile run (-1)

17th Feb - Quick Spin Round Woods

2008-02-21T21:24:00.005Z

Quick loop around woods, looking for new trails and playing on the little shore sections

Lordswood Loop
Find more Bike Rides in Southampton, United Kingdom

Happy 2008!

2008-01-02T09:13:00.000Z

New Year so these are a must:

Proper mileage
More variation in riding - i.e. not just milling round lordswood and same south downs routes
Running at least twice a week
Chopper Restoration
Learn to Weld & Fabricate
Stop eating as much crap
Cut down on alcohol
Organise myself - get a diary and use it
Visit all the people I keep saying I'll visit
Stop wasting time and money

Other things i'd LIKE to do in 2008 (funds dependant) - go on at least two trips abroad, a Direct Access Motorbike course, WVO conversion for car, buy a house :-)

In the boring near future I also need to get this blog moved onto something like wordpress, or moved onto a blogger "custom domain" so I can use widgets and toys on it and make it useful.

Today is Led Zeppelin Day.

2007-12-10T08:39:00.000Z

ENJOY the best band ever:

Anyone got a Trabant spare?

2007-10-31T16:46:00.000Z

This is nice:
http://trabicustomizer.com/trabi/
I want some Communist Bloc motoring now, always fancied one :-)

Back in the fold: At Last

2007-10-21T20:10:00.000+01:00

Two days, two rides, new bike (replacing the nicked/knackered ones), beautiful weather:

Finished the 456 on Fri night - the BB is still too short despite using a 121mm axle on the Deore crankset - should be 118 really (as far as i can work out), with a 121mm as extra, but I've not heard of Deore cranks running a 126mm axle (which it seems i need). Maybe my super human arms have forced the cranks onto the axle past the splines. GRRRR

anyway :-)

quick hr up Lordswood on the Saturday to test bike and get back into riding, after 2 meaningful rides in two months. Got lost as usual and got back with itchy legs and scratched forearms

Nipped up to Farley this morning and took in a 15 mile route. Glorious weather - shorts and t-shirts weather, felt hot in my long sleeve, but thin as anything, merino top. Some nice descents
but mainly just a gentle spin with quite a bit of road (just followed the Hants cycling route). I'm so painfully unfit its embarrassing, have to work on that, although I seem to have been saying that for circa two years. Funny point was spinning along an overgrown bridleway, adjusting the glasses on my newly speccy 4-eyes face, and my front wheel disappearing down a nice big hole, sending me supermanning over the bars onto my shoulder (which aches a bit now). Took me a few seconds to work out what the hell had happened - usually when you crash you get that "fuckityfuckityfuck" moment just before you meet terra firma, this time I just suddenly ended up lying in the grass staring at the sky :-)

Bike is ace, build seems a lot lighter than i thought it would - the forks are ace, and it rides really nicely. Think it needs a 60mm stem though (80mm was bought for the Mount Vision, but never used before it broke), and desperately needs bigger tyres.

Saw deer in the throes of the rutting season which was nice, no deer porn though, sadly :-)

More photos over at Flickr

People Annoy Me

2007-09-24T15:08:00.000+01:00

So you've gone shopping with the kids, in a large supermarket (possibly called Tescos).

Fair enough

Except when you feel its a remotely sensible idea to let the kids trail about the aisles, following the trolley in one of these:

Barging into people, getting in the way of trolleys and feet, moving erratically every which way, having to be steered every 5 seconds by daddy, all the time emitting an incredibly annoying droning sound like a dying food mixer.

If you think its a sensible idea

Don't breed.

Move on nothing to see here

2007-09-21T13:17:00.000+01:00

There really isn't :-)

No bike as of yet, the Cotic is very poorly (knacked drivetrain still) and I havn't had time to fix it, been out about once a week (if that) for the last 2 months. Insurer has covered the Kona but are still mulling over the Marin. Kona money has gone in the car pit for now, as got mot and tax this week, so will see how that goes.

Still not sure what to do about a main bike really - fix the marin, or move on...

I'm still intrigued to see that even with this blogs complete lack of content recently (ever), i'm still apparently getting views.

I think Simon needs to get a job :-)

Tim

Good Reading

2007-08-16T08:55:00.000+01:00

If your into biking but, like me, seem to have a bit of a wall in terms of self-belief, ability, fitness and general motivation - Olly makes a few good points

i want it back

2007-08-10T20:12:00.000+01:00

crap pic (phone photo), but only one i've got of it in this guise (i think)

sadly missed - if anyone sees it give me a shout

Wonderful :-(

2007-08-10T09:25:00.000+01:00

So having not really ridden at all for the last two months due to a number of things, namely being dog tired, and then having the Kona nicked and finding a crack in the Marin i'm starting to get a bit tetchy.

The borrowed Cotic is great, but i'm a touch nervous about being out and about on it as i've not been able to insure it and its quite high profile. Marc has been great and has sorted me a hack/singlespeed bike to get around on to replace the Kona, but as yet it's not sorted (only picked it up yestersday.).

Anyway, a trip to the doctors has turned out that I have a throat and ear infection, and am also being tested for Lymes and Glandular Fever, so i've been off to the vampires this morning (which is another story entirely - the doctors seem to think the walk-in centres open an hour earlier than they actually do, so i've wasted an hour of my time this morning, and got out of bed early when i felt like death).

Also, the insurance company are being funny about my two claims - they dont like it because the Kona was seemingly underinsured - well fair enough I suppose and my mistake, but the prices on my quote were for new parts that dont exactly match the old stuff, and at full RRP. They also want original receipts of purchase - bit difficult on a bike that is almost fully second-hand - (I told them of this when i bought the policy). I've explained that i'm not claiming for full retail value, and for insured value, but this gets lost in the chinese whispers game that gets my info to the underwriters. I don't get it - if you bought an 11 year old Mondeo, you wouldn't insure it for the same value as a brand new one, because it jacks up your policy and they wouldn't give you the full insurance value anyway!

They are holding out on the Marin as they want to know exactly how the frame broke and when - I bet me and marin would like to know as well! I've explained the situation, but they don't really seem to understand.

They also won't cover my Xen, although one of the office jockeys told me they would "no problem at all, Sir"

So, chances of me getting anything at all?

Shame it won't let me set up a poll...

Mould

2007-07-23T10:25:00.000+01:00

Source Hydropak drinking tube - is there ever a time to call one officially manky and bin it?

Mine looks like a students bathroom, and the gunk wont come out!

need some massive fluffy pipecleaners, or a small person with a mop...

Things you don't want to find in your camelbak

2007-07-22T16:05:00.000+01:00

No 1:

A dead...oh no hang on..make that LIVING earwig in the drinking tube...

Just found it whilst sterilising it - bastard is living on a little air bubble

Hoping that it crawled in there when i wasnt using it and it hasnt been in their for ages feeding on the black scum thats accumulated inside it

/shudders
/vomits

Faith in your product

2007-07-19T08:20:00.000+01:00

Chat with marin has revealed they fail to even contemplate that the crack in my frame (and at least two others that i have seen with exactly the same failure) is a manufacturing/frame design error - i would be fine if they refused to contemplate warranteeing a head tube/shock mount/pivot mount failure, as this can be seen as resuting from abuse on a frame thats history cannot be proven, but halfway along a swingarm, where other frames have failed in an identical way? C'mon...

This has led them to offering me a second-hand swingarm (at a price) - However this would only be warranteed for a year...

and if it were to fail again after a year id have to buy another one... (well i wouldnt, i'd get a cotic)

What i dont get is - if you are a manufacturer and you have a product, used or not, and can inspect it, why not offer it with a decent warrantee? Surely you should be able to tell if its one that snaps or not - and if its one that breaks you shouldn't be sending it out in the first place, so why not offer a warrantee with good grace?

Surely all thats saying is that they have no faith that that product will actually do what its meant to do, and wont break - what if the new (used) swingarm snaps and throws me under a bus?

If were a manufacturer and my product failed in a way that could be dangerous (eg any frame failure that could result in a loss of control), whether it was new or used, i would be mortified, but it seems they couldnt care less if it snaps, showing they must fail all the time, and hence showing that they are inferior quality - my older, much more abused heckler never snapped, and as far as i know is still going now...

The funny thing is that i used to bang on about how great Marins were...

And on a last note - they say they never warrantee products without any receipts - thats rubbish - a while ago i took back a marin stem that came off my Bear Valley SE, that had snapped at the weld where extrusion meets collar (could have been very nasty, luckily i was pulling up, not leaning on the bars), and they got worried about that and gave me a replacement with no questions...

Tim

Snapped Marin - Looks Familiar

2007-07-17T17:27:00.000+01:00

from - Here

Mines not as bad as that - but it will end up that way - that weld is cracked and its started to propogate into the metal on the inside - not a manufacturing defect/frame defect my arse

Friend used to ride a Joshua (crack all the time) he got his replaced no questions asked, with no receipts, as they knew they failed there...

Not saying I want a fisher that is :-)

but i would like A bike !

A new beginning

2007-07-16T09:24:00.000+01:00

One nicked bike

One broken bike

One borrowed bike

I feel a change in the air - mailing list and forum ban, drink and crap food ban :-)

Hello SS-L :-)

Utter Bastard :-(

2007-06-29T09:58:00.000+01:00

Come Cnuting Fcuk stole my Kona off the train yesterday :-(

hopefully he'll die in a hideous incident

gutted, i loved that bike

Bah Humbug

2007-06-27T09:15:00.001+01:00

For some reason riding up Bell Hill/Stoner Hill into work nearly killed me today :-(

didnt even notice it yesterday

Last night the idiot customer service person gave me the wrong advice, contradicting a colleague of his over where to get off the train to get back to Southampton. He was wrong, his colleague was right it turns out.

You should get off at Hilsea, not Havant, or you have to wait an hour, in Havant, in the drizzle, with nothing to do.

The only vaguley interesting magazine on sale was Top Gear as well. I've since found out its not even vaguely interesting, but banana muffins are nice

Mountain Mayhem 2007

2007-06-26T09:15:00.000+01:00

Riding in a mixed team with Gary, Juan, Jon and Nicky. We adopted a casual attitude to racing at the start, and this only got slacker when the rain came down, on Jon's second night lap, surprisingly :-)

The general verdict was mud mud mud mud and mud, oh and ferns and grass.

Slippery Slippery Grassy Gloop
(Photo by Nicky)

And a fairly embarrassing stack at the start when my foot shot out of my SPD whilst sprinting and my knee jammed behind the fork crown - resulted in a gouged lower back from the saddle and a rather nice friction burn just below my knee cap now that keeps drying out, and then when I move it again it cracks and weeps again.

Dont use your skin as a braking surface:
(Photo by Nicky)

A singlespeed with conti 1.5s was the best option it seemed, but my Mount Vision didnt get clogged too badly, although there were plenty of non rolling bikes around, and lots of snapped mechs/hangers.

We did 17 laps overall - Gary - 5, Jon - 4, Juan - 3, Me - 3 and Nicky-2. Not exactly setting the world alight but we all decided that stopping before we stopped enjoying it was the best idea - ive flogged myself to the point of collapse at 24 hr races before, and if you aren't fit enough it really kills you afterwards. Plus it was very hard going through the mud - half of the course had basically no grip at all, which was in equal measures amusing and frustrating.

Although the solo option is calling me again - I seem to ride better and further when i dont have the pressure of getting up at a certain time and riding - i think its a mental thing - i always get silly nervous before events and then my head goes in the night. I did just shy of 100 miles at CLIC 05 with little to no preparation, so im wondering that if i actually get some sort of training sorted out i might be able to beat that :-)

Although if its at Eastnor again i think that i will be taking both bikes (the kona and the mount vision), singlespeeding both at 32:18, running tiny tyres and unbolting everything that isn't absolutely essential :-)

Work now, cars still broken so riding to work.

Tata

Tim