Obsessive Cycling Disorder from OTT

On a damp Sunday morning only Tim, James and I (Rich) made the route. From the dry Nicky Line track to Leasy Bridge Farm onto the muddy tracks leading to Pipers Stud, Amwell and the south side of Nomansland Common heading towards Coleman Green and Rifle Butts Woods (a similar route can be found on our website) Well I almost made it as I had to give up at 11am and make my way back to Harpenden (light-weight). I am sure Tim will add to the story later - Our only meeting with wildlife today was a suicidal pheasant!. Too wet for the headcam so we will take it out for a ride next week…

Rich

Yes, got yet another puncture on Tuesday night as reported in blog.  Still not completely convinced of No-flats solution and being seriously weight-weeny have always avoided slime, sludge and any other jizzy deposits in my tyres.  However I spotted Wiggle ad for Slime Lite (sic) “Lightest Self-Healing Tube on the planet”. Slime claims tubes are 219 g (only a smidgeon above a slime free tube I think) so have decided to throw £15 at the experiment.  I’ll give it a couple of weeks and then think about spending £15 for the other tyre.

Anybody out there with slime lite form?

Tim

Good turn out for a Tuesday night, meant that 4 of us met in Sandridge, James, Craig, Tim and I.

Decided to do a variation on the usual route, by doing it in reverse, so we set off up the bridleway.

A white ferretty type animal trotted along with us some of the way, I can’t believe it was a wild one being that colour, and probably an escaped pet, a long way from any houses tho’.

Anyway reached the top, and Tim had a puncture, many hands make light work, so a few minutes later we’re spinning again.

Some quite boggy conditions through the little wood by the Golf course, leads us into the 3 Horse Shoe’s car park, at the top of Mudd Lane.  Jame’s turn to have a puncture, so this was fixed, reassembled complete with another CO2 canister, and the tube was still punctured!!!!  So some more faffing, with the assurance that the tubeless system in the front tyre would be up and running for the next ride, meant we are on our way again.

Mudd Lane was REALLY wet and boggy, glad we were not riding up it!!!

Through Nomansland, where the cold was begining to affect the conditions, so there was a nice frost on the exposed areas, unfortunately not affecting the boggy areas enough.

Up around Wheathampstead, eventually led us to the John Bunyan, where we had a brief stop for some food (not in the pub!), weather is getting quite cold, and there’s ice on some exposed puddles.  Down the byway from there, James managing to fall off on the road before the start.  A number of obstacles put on the track by some nice walkers, and very soft ground means that this track is hard work.

Through the mud towards Symonhyde Woods, decide not to do any of the “secret” stuff, and pass through, down the road and off to Rifle Butt woods for the last single track section, and back into Sandridge, a good loop.

Simon

New wheels are on my Singlespeed, some rather tasty Hope ProII SS Hubs in a rather fetching blue with Mavic 717 Rims, the blue clashes nicely with my Green Dialledbikes Love/Hate.  Bit of a mare while getting it together for the afternoons ride, in that the chain I’d ordered wouldn’t fit, being a 3/32″ width which wouldn’t go over my Middleburn Uno ring, so into town for a BMX chain, Addiction comes up trumps with a KMC silver one, which fits a treat.  Rock&Road didn’t have any in stock despite a couple of jump bikes on show and a SingleSpeed road bike in the window, all with 1/8″ chains….interesting.

Anyway Rich and James were due around my place early afternoon, to fit some newer rings to Rich’s bike.

After this was completed, a bit of faffing, resulted in us setting off only about half an hour late.  Less than 1km later, Rich managed to snap his chain……..more faffing and he was on his way again.

No further mishaps, overall a very muddy ride.

Video footage to follow, if it’s worked, over to you Rich.

Simon

Rich - Added video clip (poor first attempt) more on OTT Main pics page

What really grinds my gears (Part 2)

Having had my cycling fix yesterday (Sat) with the hardcore “singlespeed” crew I found myself unusually in the car on a Sunday morning- I had to overtake 3 guys on MTB’s riding side by side- We moan when horse riders do this to us- so come on guys, use a bit of sense and avoid giving us “off roaders” a bad name and keep it singlefile on the public highway.

I did wait until I had gone past before I hit the horn and received a polite wave from the chap on the Marin FS.

Rich (Grumpy Old Git)

Only me and Craig made it out, a short spin around north St. Albans, with Craig cycling from Harpenden just for fun.

My Singlespeed was awaiting some TLC (more info to come soon!), so I was on my full suspension Marin. Overall an enjoyable couple of hours.

Leading on from Mark’s Motion based plot further down;

CLICK HERE

Simon

Ever tried a wheely using your front wheel and forks - Rich did and we are pleased he didn’t injure himself seriously. Saved no doubt by the peak of his Giro helmet, Rich decided after careful coaching by James and Craig to attempt jumping a 300mm log on a descent - landing on his front wheel and managing to keep balanced for a few seconds before eating dirt. We are not sure if this is Rich trying to join the band of Over The Top riders or just simply testing his Giro crash replacement warranty with Wiggle!- No pics- sorry but come back soon for some of the 17 mile rides other high points.

Rich W (the other one)Spesh Stumpy S-Works

Cars with the ‘Child on Board’ signs in the window.   And they’re like doing 50mph in a 30 zone and can’t work out how the indicators work.  Hey lady what is that all about?  Am I expected to back off ’cause your precious baby is on board?  So why drive like an idiot and risk the life of your child (& us cyclists) in the first place.  That’s what really grinds my gears.

Mark (Giant Trance 3)

Hi everyone,

I just wondered what your favourite winter tyres are.  I’m specifically after those that can handle the mud that is so dominant on our rides.  I’ve been considering some Panaracer Fire Mud tyres but due to supply problems may well go with Panaracer Trailraker instead.  These seem highly rated.

I rode for quite some time on Schwalbe Mountaineer II’s which are only a 1.95 but worked pretty well.  I’m currently running Kenda 829’s which tread-wise looked quite promising but clog easily -but hey, they were only £10 for the pair (new) in a charity shop of all places.  I really liked the Scott Cougar’s I ran a while back but these aren’t available to purchase.  I even had a little blast with some DH tyres (Schwalbe Space) which were great when cranked over but obviously very heavy.

I have thought about taking a blade to the Kenda’s and cutting out some tread to help with mud shedding properties but if you can suggest a great tyre then please let me know. Hey, if you can suggest a lousy one, then do that too - so I don’t buy ‘em in the future.

Thanks & happy pedallin’

Mark (Giant Trance 3)

TAKE A LOOK AT COMMENTS BELOW - RICH

  A very cold , crisp morning greeted us for the  inaugural ride of 2009.  Richard, Craig, Al & myself braved the chilly conditions to see what the new year could throw at us.  Sadly Rich dropped out early with mechanical difficulties.  Craig led the way with his superior knowledge of the area with Al & myself trailing behind somewhat.

  The route took us through Ayot St. Lawrence to Codicote then roughly North-West across trails unknown to drop back down into Whitwell.  From there, on to Kimpton and back to the Amble Inn for a swift pint.  A total of 19.4 miles according to Garmin.  Al had some mechanical problems and had to select some gears by manually changing chainrings.  I had the only puncture of the day.  I don’t know what went through my tyre but the self-sealing ‘Slime’ inner tube failed to do it’s task but did manage to ooze a small amount of green goo through the tyre so it was visible on the outside.  I imagine barbed wire could have been the culprit as nothing was in the tyre/tube. 

  Well, at least the three of us made it round without too many mishaps and it was a joy to finish with a relatively unmuddied bike for once.  Some nice little sections new to myself made for a good ride to kick off the 2009 OTT season.  Bring on the Sunday mornings - we’re ready for ‘em.

CLICK HERE for the route on Motion Based.

Mark (Giant Trance 3)