Friday 1 June 2012

Cycling Faux Pas and Other Shit I Miss.

Over the last two years a growing family and business has supplanted my time on the bike. I ride less.

I also drink more. There could be a correlation but who can say with any certainty? Really?

Anyway, a Canuk winning the Giro and other recent interwebs events finds me thinking about being in the thick of a racing season and how far away I am from that now. The good news is it finally makes me want to ride.

I think that's the hardest thing about being an older racer (or just Olde) is that it's just so bloody time consuming and it impinges on everything else you do that it's impossible to sustain that into middle age.

That's a long, hard stare.

So here, in no particular order, are some of the Faux Pas I may have experience with. This list will certainly continue to grow.

Glasses inside helmet straps. I done it. Sometimes on purpose. There has been considerable sleep lost over this one.

Equal tire pressures in both front and back tires. Well, there's a red line on the gauge so I pump to there. If I needed two different pressures pumps would come with two adjustable red lines. Think about it.

A saddle bag. I hate packing my jersey pockets full of tubes, levers, patches, tire boot, spoke key and mini allen tools every time I ride to the 7-11for beer - I mean train. I lash that junk on my bike because if I put it in my jersey it's easier to see my spare tire. No-one wants that.

Recording my AVE SPD. I download a bunch of stuff from my PM but I have never made a special spread sheet to record my AVE SPD. Perhaps this is why I never went pro.

Aero bars. I wish I'd left them on my road bike. I only used them for a short while on my road bike until our TT bikes were ready but, since I am older and much slower now, I could be seeing time savings like nothing I've seen before. That stuff could be really paying off now!

Waving. I always wave. I don't care who you are. You're out for a ride and having a good time. I can muster a nod, wave or finger flick in your direction - accept for the tri-geeks. In all the years I've been riding not one has waved back. ****'em. I've had lots of folks who do tri's smile, wave, nod or flick back but not a single tri-geek has deigned to do so.

Carbon. I use it for everything. Frames, forks, bars, stems, rims, seats, posts, cranks and a bunch of component parts. I know it is a ticking time bomb and I must be delusional because I have yet to buy a CAAD 10 to use in the crits I don't do but this **** just keeps showing up at my door so I use it. This must be some sick kind of voodoo risk taking, gambling thing. I don't know. It's just not right because I know this stuff is just a bunch of plastic waiting to asplode and who knows how many I'll take with me.

I suppose it's my cross to bear.

Bents. I should really just own up right here. I'd love to try one but, to me they are like mopeds; They're both fun to ride until your friends find out. For the bents, I am ruined.

Mirrors-helmet or otherwise. I'm just to busy jammin' to my tunes on my iphone to bother with mirrors. They're too much of a distraction.

Bells. I had a metal bell with a solid spring and knocker on my FG/SS yellow Merckx with white full fenders that let out a single, crystal clear sound, that cut through traffic noise and carried for a block. I sold it with the bike. I loved the bike. I miss the bell.

I need a moment.