As is ever my way, once I’d started looking at Dawes Galaxy touring bicycles I got fixated. I did a few searches, but I was frustrated by the fact that I needed the 48cm frame model, most of them were 53cm and above. I tried to trick my brain into letting me be patient by buying a rear rack. I could fit that to my road bike and do my training on it while I waited for a perfect bike to appear. Nah. I was obsessing and making myself frantic.
I quickly cracked. I went to see a 48cm Super Galaxy (supposedly slightly more sporty riding position, combined shifters/ brakes). It was up in the North Pennines. (Junction 38 of the M6, then across to the east for an hour and 20 minutes). I didn’t know there was that much back-of-beyond in England! Stupid big hills, twisty little roads, it was a focusing drive.
I got there and the bike was fine. A bit scratched, with some baked on oil and dirt, but everything worked. It was blue, not the racing green I wanted, but I couldn’t wait so I got it. Relief! I think it’s a 2000s bike, and the seller said his mate (who’s bike it was) had got parkinsons so hadn’t ridden it for 10 years. So it shouldn’t be too worn out.
I got it home and scrubbed it with paraffin to clean the oil off, then gave it a wash and and an oil. I fitted the rack, swapped my pedals, lights and such from my commuter bike, and pumped up the tyres. Good to go.
Then I took it for a spin around the block.
Oh. My. God!
I thought I’d made a terrible mistake. The position is so upright. It’s so heavy. It doesn’t want to turn or tip into corners. (Not sure if that’s the long geometry or the fat tyres.) It burst the bubble of my LEJOG enthusiasm.
The next morning I was determined to soldier on, in spite of the bike. I rode it to Decathlon for a better pump and some bits and bobs, then to Sainsbury’s. Suddenly it made sense! It was upright. You fall into the drops and you are still upright. Weird. But it was good for track and road, and once you get it’s lardarse rolling, it’s happy to trundle along at 15mph, which is all I’m after. The weirdness is weird, but it’s not something you notice for long. Happy again. LEJOG is back on!
I went for a proper test today. I rode up to Frodsham then on to Delamere Forest. That’s some serious hills. And it was blowing a gale. The bike handled it fine. At first I was changing down into the tiny front ring (the granny ring) but on the way back I was doing some big hills in the middle ring. I didn’t actually need the granny ring, which means I have a whole bunch of lower gears in reserve for overwhelming hills. I did the 41 miles in 3.03, at 13.5 mph average. That’s my first long ride in 4 1/2 years, only been back riding 6 weeks, with 2,000ft of elevation, in strong winds, and I’m not far off the pace. Happy with that. The other test was for bike comfort. 3 hours in the saddle and my arse was fine. The strong wind set my shoulder, so that was uncomfortable, and by the end my legs were fried, but the bike, and the riding position, were excellent. Good. I’ve got a year to build up my bike fitness and endurance. And it won’t always be that hilly or windy.
My longest ride before that was a 90 minute endurance session on TrainerRoad. It had 5×10 minute blocks just under my FTP. I managed to do the 90 minutes on the aero bars. While I was doing it I noticed my right knee kept brushing my water bottle on the downtube of the frame. I thought I must be sitting at an angle. By the end my knee was throbbing. I had to have painkillers to sleep. It turns out that kind of knee pain is due to weakness in your leg making your knee wobble whilst under load, so twisting the knee instead of pistoning up and down. I fitted hi tech knee alignment kit and tried again a few days later, much better.
My knee is slightly tender after today’s ride, but you have to think about it to notice, so it’s not bad.
My other injury is that sore achilles. I went for a run and it was painful enough to make me alter my gait after 5 miles. I consulted Doctor Google, and I think it’s adding those stupid big hills to my long runs. Too much, too soon. Which is basically my life. Doc G said to rest it for 2 weeks, whilst cross training and stretching, then ease back into running. Two weeks after that it’s Blackpool marathon. I’ll have to see how I feel. If I’m fully healed I’ll do it. I don’t want to proper knacker my achilles and still not finish.
Then it’s just concentrate on the half tri, with a big emphasis on the bike (for LEJOG). I’m going to look into a swim coaching session as well. I reach a certain level, where I can trawl up and down, slowly, but I never get any better. I need help. If they can tell me what to do I’ll do it.
Tomorrow I’m going to clean and list my VFR750 motorbike and the CB550/four. I’m going to fit the new indicators to the Harley, so the only problem is the tickover, then take it into the garage, get them to sort it out and MOT it. That can be my one bike that I’m not riding, instead of having three I can’t ride. It’s a damn shame, but I can’t afford to ride one mile off the pushbike for the next year and a bit. I have to be cycling. That was tiring today, I was worn out by 40 miles, I am planning on doing 3 times that a day, for 10 days. Carrying half my bodyweight in kit. I say 10 days because I’ve got a .gpx route and a paper book from the charity that maintain all of the UK’s cycle networks. The route is an extra hundred miles or so (at nearly 1,200 miles) but it’s planned around cycle tracks and quiet roads. It will be an extra day of cycling, but I stand a much better chance of making it alive.