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Trying to get back into the thick of things lately with a ride out to Chester when others thought better.
Started to go back to the spinning classes at the Oval and West Kirby. The Oval having a load of bikes out of action and West Kirby being incredibly full.

Merseyside CTC Spring TT proved to be a bit of a disaster with what must be my first DNF of an event. Spent an age planning the route too.

Paul at the start of Merseyside CTC Early Season TT

Turned up at the start after a wet drive in with the winter bike in the back of the car. Lots of familiar faces at the start with some thinking of bailing out at the last minute. Swipe card sign in means no waiting these days at CTC events.
Garmin Courses were in short supply with moi probably having the only one. Unfortunatly you can’t swap Courses between devices on the 800 that and I don’t think the file formats are the same as in the 705.

5.5 miles into the ride there is a load bang as the front tyre let go in a big way.
I coasted to a halt in a farm drive way and set about assesing the damage.
The tube had a split in it along with a hole in the tyre that needed patching.

The Sunlight sailed past with Gary shouting “Lend us your Garmin”, things then got steadily worse. I only had one tube and managed to nick that too, it’d been bouncing around the bottom of the tool container too so may have had some other nicks too. It didn’t hold air for long too and a trip into Winsford for a branch of Halfords proved fruitless.
Nothing for it but to abandon the ride and make it back to the start in 1/2 mile stops.
Called in at the Ice Cream Farm to see the grandkids on the way home so the day wasn’t a total disaster.

A post mortem of all my spare tubes wasn’t good, 18 month old repairs had lifted. All leaked, all binned along with the Conti UltraSport tyre.

Wednesday: Went with Andy to one of the wholesalers an picked ip a few bits. Found my lost passport in the great cleanup. Plenty of stuff to go including a few bikes. Now I’ve got my passport back a trip to the Tour could be on the cards.

Thursday: Spin class at the Oval, gave the shower a miss as you’d come out worse than you went in. Not impressed with the mould in the grout.

WordPress Ads are now on the site, finally secumbed  after all these years.

Spinning class at West Kirby, shower  and home.

 

More in a bit.

Not been very active due to Vals mother passing away recently  after being diagnosed with an inoperable lung tumor. The service went well not withstanding cemetarys are busy places these days.

Not got enough miles in but other than that I think I’m OK ish.

More later including Andy,s 2 bin bags  of weed find on Wirral streets.

What hasn’t made it to the blog but did appear on Twitter was I had a big off on last Sundays ride (18 Mar) out to the Ice Cream Farm to see the grand kids.

Had a leisurely ride out to the Eureka catching up with things with one of the CTC.  Gary from the Sunlight came past and in normal circumstances I would have grabbed a wheel but let it go this time.

Had breakfast at the Eureka before setting out along the Dee cyclepath to Chester. Now it had thrown it down during the night but I awoke to rapidly drying roads so had set out on the Trek.
I’d passed three guys after Saltney Ferry bridge and the plan was to go around the Roo Dee Racecourse cyclepath using the River Dee Promenade whch is at the back of the new appartments and the racecourse stables.

Turned of the road and went past the first block of appartments but where it links to the back of the stables is a stretch of wooden decking. I thought nothing of it as I passed a woman walking a dog. Bang, a slit second later I had hit the deck and hard too.
I got up, with the dog walker coming back to see if I was alright, I said I was but I think I was putting a brave face on it.
I’d lost a water bottle and saw my Iphone skittle across the decking. The bike didn’t seem damaged so it I thought I’d continue the ride.

The cause was the sun hadn’t dried out the wet decking and it was like an Ice rink. I didn’t stand a chance. I’d managed to stop the tree cyclists from the cyclepath meeting the same end and continued on calling in at the Bike Factory to look at some bike.  There’s a nice Madone 5.9 with Ultegra UI2 on it that caught my eye.

Got to the playbarn hurting a bit but nothing to bad. Had a few hours with the grandkids and opted to ride home, refusing a lift from Val.
Taking the canal path at Waverton proved to be a mistake as the sun had brought out all the prams and dogwalkers so I didn’t get anywhere fast.

Apart from the sore leg and and elbow, I had a pain in the chest every time I came out of the saddle. I threw the towel in at Upton by Chester and rang for a lift home.  The damage is a massive bruise to the thigh an abrasion to the forearm and what seems to be a cracked rib as it hurts when I sneeze etc even a week later.

Final sections of the kitchen refurb on Friday and Saturday with two larder units being cut down to size. The back room resembling a sawmill. I missed a cracking ride day on the Saturday but planned to get out on Sunday.

Sunday Rose early to clean and fettle the bike. Hadn’t planned to rush out but one thing led to another.  New brake blocks for the front with the chain getting cleaned with TF2.

6700 Chain I’ve read all the forums and tech articles about chain cleaning or the lack of it (Shimano recomend you don’t) and after using a good portion of a tin of TF2 I still wasn’t happy.
I’ve been using wax,s for the last couple of months but the slots in the link plates appear to by blocked up with crap.
The chain went through a 4 phase ultrasonic clean as follows.

1.  Water and Fairy liquid. Removed grit but not too effective on oil and grease.
2.  Water and Fairy liquid. Removed more grit but not too effective on oil and grease.
3. Water and Gunk. Starting to get somewhere now but not 100%.
4. White spirit. The chain came out clean but there are still residues that settle.

Lubed with Goldtop oil and set off for a test ride.
When I say test ride, it’s a test for next weekends CTC spring 50.
It starts with a mile and a half uphill drag out of Kinnerton and if I’m having trouble climbing I may as well not start. More later. 

What a day, I volunteered to be turn marshall at the Liverpool end of the Vita Cycles ” 10 Minutes of Hell ” TT a new unique event through the Mersey Tunnel.
Talk about diving in at the deep end for your first Time Trial.
Time Trialing is usually up and down a miserable dual carriageway with lorries thundering past at 60 mph and the “tester” hoping to get a bit of a draught.

This was a full road closure, chip timed, event that even made made the BBC Northwest news.

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From the Vita Cycles site.

Ten Minutes of Hell’ proved to be just that,  with each and every competitor giving their all, but only 9 managing to break the ten minute barrrier.  Julia Shaw ripping through the tunnel in 9.59 to win the fastest female prize – £1,000 and Swift TT frame set,  National Time Trial Champion/ Team Sky rider Alex Dowsett,  with a staggering finishing time of 8.28 lifting the fastest male prize – £1,000 and Swift TT frame; confirming his superiority with a lightening 4.08 mid point split  to also lift the fastest mid point prize – £500 and £3,000 Limited Edition TAG Heuer watch. Our congratulations to them both and to all the runner up prize winners.

The day was a great success and we thank each and every competitor for supporting the event, Calder Kids charity and for giving your all in facing Ten Minutes of Hell.   The devil awaits you next year !.

Thank you to everyone that gave up precious time to assist, help and marshal on the day, to sponsors ‘Sportful, Swift, Torq, Cyclops turbo trainers and to Mersey Tunnel Police and Mersey Travel for granting Vita Cycles permission to hold the event at such a unique venue and for their kind assistance in planning and staging it – Thank you all.

Pictures will be released shortly. Complete and verified finishing times are below.

First name	Last name	Race number	Gender	Team name	Finish time	Overall position	Gender position	Half Way Split Time	Finish Split Time
Alex	Dowsett	66	Male	Team Sky	00:08:28	1	1	00:04:08	00:04:20
Ryan	Mullen	64	Male	Planet X	00:09:12	2	2	00:04:20	00:04:52
James	Ratcliffe	58	Male	Fred Williams Cycles	00:09:13	3	3	00:04:30	00:04:43
Andrew	Wilkinson	65	Male	Port Sunlight Wheelers	00:09:16	4	4	00:04:33	00:04:43
Ken	Buckley	56	Male	Reading Cycling Club	00:09:20	5	5	00:04:35	00:04:45
Liam	Stones	61	Male	Team Corley Cycles Blue	00:09:28	6	6	00:04:41	00:04:47
James	Coleman	25	Male	Witham Wheelers CC	00:09:35	7	7	00:04:45	00:04:49
Stuart	Wells	45	Male	Scunthorpe Poly CC	00:09:59	8	8	00:04:53	00:05:05
Julia	Shaw	54	Female	Drag2Zero	00:09:59	9	1	00:04:56	00:05:03
Roy	Sumner	38	Male	Port Sunlight Wheelers	00:10:03	10	9	00:05:01	00:05:01
Simon	Hodgkinson	43	Male	Club Goldtec	00:10:10	11	10	00:04:58	00:05:12
Ian	Cox	55	Male	North Lancs Road Club	00:10:13	12	11	00:04:55	00:05:17
Simon	Smythe	51	Male	Cycling Weekly	00:10:14	13	12	00:05:03	00:05:11
Rob	Adlard	62	Male	Team Wheel Guru	00:10:20	14	13	00:05:00	00:05:19
Rebecca	Slack	52	Female		00:10:31	15	2	00:05:09	00:05:21
Dan	Ruygrok	34	Male	Mersey Tri	00:10:35	16	14	00:05:14	00:05:20
Dominic	Smith	57	Male	We Love Mountains Race Team	00:10:41	17	15	00:05:05	00:05:35
Graham	Thompson	47	Male	Anfield BC	00:10:52	18	16	00:05:14	00:05:38
Zack	Williamson	4	Male	Mossley CRT	00:10:54	19	17	00:05:12	00:05:42
Neil	Buckley	42	Male	Port Sunlight Wheelers	00:10:57	20	18	00:05:17	00:05:39
Alasdair	Wright	13	Male		00:11:11	21	19	00:05:27	00:05:44
Neil	O’Brien	21	Male	Manchester Tri Club	00:11:11	22	20	00:05:29	00:05:42
Ian	Fagan	44	Male		00:11:12	23	21	00:05:29	00:05:43
Gavin	Marsden	31	Male	Vita Race Team	00:11:22	24	22	00:05:28	00:05:54
Jill	Wilkinson	36	Female	Port Sunlight Wheelers	00:11:32	25	3	00:05:43	00:05:49
Mark	Donnelly	48	Male		00:11:32	26	23	00:05:42	00:05:50
Alan	Evans	49	Male	Mersey Tri	00:11:34	27	24	00:05:41	00:05:53
Sean	Fairhurst	40	Male	Vita Race Team	00:11:37	28	25	00:05:44	00:05:53
Anthony	Breen	35	Male	Vita Race Team	00:11:44	29	26	00:05:46	00:05:57
Dave	Zelaskowski	39	Male	Vita Race Team	00:11:44	30	27	00:05:46	00:05:58
Sam	Mansfield	11	Male	Buxton CC	00:11:46	31	28	00:05:46	00:05:59
James	Mackie	41	Male	Vita Race Team	00:12:01	32	29	00:05:56	00:06:05
Nicola	Soden	28	Female	Maxgear RT	00:12:04	33	4	00:06:03	00:06:01
Ross	James	32	Male	Vita Race Team	00:12:07	34	30	00:05:47	00:06:19
Dominique	Searle	37	Female		00:12:07	35	5	00:06:04	00:06:02
Alex	Caws	24	Male	Vita Cycles	00:12:12	36	31	00:06:03	00:06:09
Mark	Williams	26	Male	Birkenhead Victoria CC	00:12:12	37	32	00:05:45	00:06:27
Mark	Scatchard	27	Male	Chevin Cycles	00:12:14	38	33	00:05:56	00:06:18
Vicki	Wade	30	Female		00:12:17	39	6	00:06:05	00:06:11
Chris	White	17	Male	Vita Cycles	00:12:19	40	34	00:06:00	00:06:19
Melissa	Bury	23	Female	Maxgear RT	00:12:21	41	7	00:06:11	00:06:10
Fancis	White	22	Male	Champion Systems / Maxgear	00:12:22	42	35	00:06:10	00:06:11
David	Lindseay	19	Male	Vita Cycles	00:12:25	43	36	00:06:07	00:06:18
Dave	Connor	2	Male		00:12:26	44	37	00:05:50	00:06:36
Jane	Saunders	53	Female	Vita Cycles	00:12:31	45	8	00:06:10	00:06:20
Paul	Rowley	15	Male	Vita Cycles	00:12:34	46	38	00:06:03	00:06:30
Dan	Williams	33	Male	Vita Race Team	00:12:34	47	39	00:06:12	00:06:22
Jonathan	Fairhurst	12	Male	Vita Cycles	00:12:35	48	40	00:06:12	00:06:22
Dave	Hughes	46	Male	Club Rosio Mona	00:12:42	49	41	00:06:05	00:06:37
Matthew	Sweeney	6	Male		00:12:54	50	42	00:06:04	00:06:50
Carla	Fagan	5	Female	Vita Cycles	00:13:00	51	9	00:06:16	00:06:44
Dan	Granton	14	Male	Vita Cycles	00:13:03	52	43	00:06:22	00:06:40
Robert	Lawton	20	Male	Vita Cycles	00:13:14	53	44	00:06:28	00:06:45
Nick	Fletcher	8	Male		00:13:36	54	45	00:06:38	00:06:58
James	Thwaite	9	Male		00:13:36	55	46	00:06:40	00:06:56
David	Pye	18	Male		00:13:36	56	47	00:06:32	00:07:03
Andrew	Davies	7	Male		00:13:49	57	48	00:06:44	00:07:05
Sean	Dalby	3	Male		00:14:14	58	49	00:06:20	00:07:54
Alan	Shuttleworth	1	Male	Altrincham Road Club	00:14:23	59	50	00:06:40	00:07:43
Dave	Badley	16	Male	Vita Cycles	00:14:40	60	51	00:07:13	00:07:27

 

http://road.cc/content/news/52976-ten-minutes-hell-racing-underground-big-prizes

Sunday: 60 miler today, much like last week but a lot colder and with no tail wind. Nice trip out to the ICF to see the lad and grandkids. Called in at the Tap on the way home and read some sages Xmas scroll on the noticeboard, it was brilliant. Magicshines on the way home and I was done.
Switched to a set of Bioracer winter bibs, which where a lot better than Coolmax which I have been having difficulties with.

Next up is: Vita Cycles “10 minutes of Hell” which is a unique Time Trial through the Mersey Tunnel . Some big guns signed up and I’m down as the turn marshall at the Liverpool end. Contact Vita on the  Link if you can help.
Raffle prize up for grabs for willing marshalls.
Open to all.
If we can sort it, a fastest downhill speed , radar checked if possible. It all depends on the day.
We need bodies, the tasks aren’t onerous  but You need to stay at your post for the duration of the event.  It is a unique event and we hope it will go smoothly for it’s inauguration.

Times flying at the moment and I was in work until Wednesday and generally can’t do much when I get in from work.
Thursday: Barbara,s spinning class at West Kirby. Thought I had the wrong day/time or some as there was nobody waiting for the class. Parking space was difficult to top it off.
It finally twigged when the Zumba class emptied out at about 10:30. There is only one PA system and the spinning class can’t have it until the Zumba class has finished. Decent class and I didn’t get a water bottle poured over me this week.
Friday: Tex’s spinning class at the Oval , more suited for blokes and cycling as there is more work out of the saddle and no chest presses. Weight machines and 2km on the Concept 2. Shower and home.
Saturday: Tempted to head out on the bike but stuck it out in the kitchen most of the day. At that stage where things need to be spot on before the worktop goes in. Cleaned the chain in the ultrasonic bath for tomorrows ride, lubed it with Goldline lube as it doesn’t pick up grit like some of the other lubes.
Forecast was windy and already a few were crying off on Twitter.
Chocolate cake was ordered on Twitter, if you don’t follow @EurekaCafe on Twitter this will all be over thew top of your head.
Sunday: Ride day, out at a decent time with the forecast being very windy.
Hit Talbot Avenue going to Thornton Hough and felt really rough, pedaling squares and I’m only a mile into the ride.
Thing’s were looking a bit better on the Chester High Road with a wind assist to the Eureka.
Ann had the Chocolate cake pre chilled when I got there with another piece taken already. This cake wasn’t going to last the day at this rate. Sat down with Vita Paul and Chris, Chris had been doing some Ten Minutes of Hell training in the Mersey Tunnel. Paul is taking it easy after going down with 2 others on the ice last weekend. All in all that was 5 falling in frosty conditions and just reinforced my view about cycling alone when it is bad.

Paul suffered a flatened Giro Atmos helmet when he went down along with some other damage, the new bike was Ok but a Sram lever damaged. Can’t stress the importance of having one even if ‘s a £30 low end one.  Saved me, saved Paul it’s not about the car accident it’s about the impact from what may in the end be your own fault.

Should have had the breakfast at the Eureka as in the long run chocolate cake was not the ideal start to a 63 mile windy ride. I headed out with Bobs CTC ride towards the Dee rail bridge where the Sunlight overtook us so I grabbed a wheel off them. My mind had been made up before hand about riding into the wind.

Instead I headed off down the Dee to Chester, saw 32 MPH on the Garmin and set a new Strava segment time of 47 KPH even beating Springy. Posted it as a wind assist but it still looks good.
Called in at the Specialised Concept Store and the Bike Factory and headed of to the Ice Cream Farm after picking up some carbon assembly grease. Good to chat with the staff as they speak the same language.

Cruised to the ICF where things are subtly changing, cyclists no longer keep the place open in the depths of winter. The playbarn, Sunday papers and free WiFi are starting to attract families in increasing number. The Ice Cream Parlor was pretty empty today.

Headed out towards Beeston Castle where the road down to “The Shady Oak” was closed which can only mean the bridge was closed. Did a loop around with a few bits I didn’t recognise, called by the Lock Gates Cafe but didn’t stop.

Next stop was the “50 p Shop” where I managed to spend £5.50 and had a hot chocolate drink at the Cafe. Nice place, if your into “Full Englishes” this is probably one place you ought to try. Clean inside with great service.

From here on there is a distinctly darker side to the ride. There is no hiding from a headwind and I’ve a fair bit to go. A sign of the times is that closed pubs are now becoming Tea rooms, a decent location is still worth riding to if it can survive.

Pics are on Facebook or G+, will include on this stream.

more to come, I’ve had the best of it.

Monday: Work Tuesday: Work, holidays booked at work. Had to take 2 days off for the Wild Wales in August. answered a few comments about the Edge 800. Wednesday:  Had planned to get out to the Eureka and join a CTC ride but had a change of plan. Dragged the Iceni out the shed for the first time in a long time. Pumped up the tyres, changed the Garmin mount for the 800 one and I was nearly ready to go. Had a query about the Cadence sensor  so tried to pair it with the Edge 800. It wasn’t having it so the battery got changed, still no joy. No magnet on the crank so that was on the shopping list. The Iceni felt good if a little heavy, it’s on 44cm bars which are a fair bit wider than the Trek and gives the ride a totally different feel. The other thing is the silence, no rattles or the wind noise that you seem to get with bladed spoke wheels. First time out for a long time with a HRM on, found the Edge 800 no problem unlike the cadence sensor. The cadence sensor menu’s are deep within the Edge 800.   http://app.strava.com/runs/3263553/embed/23106e1f678ef5506fd7685b2e98be98da133874

Thursday:  Spinning class at the Oval, Becky’s stand in had us doing some sort of pyramid  technique. It was quite hard but I didn’t expect to have a water bottle emptied over my head while filling my bottle at the cooler. My crime was saying it was “Okay but but would have been better with 8 sets of 8” .
2 Km on the Concept2 rowing machine and a few weights.

Put the cadence sensor magnet on the Iceni and gave it a test on the stand.
Should be able to give it a try on Friday.  Paid off the kitchen before the interest free credit runs out and cancelled the direct debit.

If your on Google + check out the Rubik Cube solving machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_d0LfkIut2M

Sunday:  Set the cadence sensor up on the Iceni before venturing out into the cold. Temperatures were little above freezing with frost in the shade not thawing out allday.  I set  out to do the Wirral Coastal trail with a loop to Chester in it.
More a bit later.

 

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First post of the year, the end of 2011 proved to be a very subdued affair with very few prepared to set fire to £10 notes this year (fireworks).
I was in work New Years Day so no ride, proved to be an eventful block in work.

Tuesday: First day off, had a good go at the kitchen with the first all important corner unit going in. Didn’t like what I saw on the scales so time to get back on the plan.
On the website front the Dummies Guide  has taken off hit wise with the site having over 200,000 visitors so it’s time for a few changes.

Wednesday:  It was hard to resist going out for a ride but first things first.
Rather than watch paint dry it was time  for a BLT at the Eureka Cafe.
Signed up for the Wild Wales again, online and with PayPal now. RFID sign in last year just goes to show how far the CTC has advanced.

http://www.wildwaleschallenge.com

Late on I found out where all the traffic was coming from, 4th on a Google search for Garmin Edge 800. That is up against some very big hitters.
Called in at Vita with the newsagent across the road biting  the dust, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

Saw some of Springy’s work, would get a Google +1 from me.
More changes afoot.

Thursday:  Signed up for the Vita Cycles club, quite a productive session on the kitchen with  one of those fancy complicated corner storage units getting installed. It has to be millimeter perfect and you only get one chance.

Friday: Out for a bit of a ride, called in at Wheelbase to see if the tub puncture sealer was in , which it wasn’t and headed out for a loop around the Wirral. Took things fairly steady as I wasn’t getting a wind assist anywhere.  Good to see the Counsel sweeping the roads of all the hedge cutting over the last few days.
Went around the Marine Lake  at new Brighton which was a bad move as I had to wade through drifting sand that was about 4 feet thick with shoes with Keo cleats on.  It was like getting stuck in the Dakar.
Crunch time came in West Kirby, do I take the Grange Road climb out of West Kirby or do I wimp out.
I opted for the climb but boy was it a struggle, came 10th on a Strava segment which wasn’t too bad.
Strava.com is the latest cycling/running site where you can compare your times over a given “segment”.You can upload your entire history at one go to see how your doing.

It’s given me the chance to enter the “Col du Rest Hill” as a segment. Anyone that does it and uploads to Strava will get a time. It starts just after the bend, at a telegraph pole and finishes at the 30mph speed limit sign, 10m before the junction. Average gradient 5.6%.

Saturday: Work, no ride.
Sunday: Work, no ride.

Last weekend I had trouble walking after straining my thigh, an Ibruprofen later and I’m feeling a lot lot better, well at least until it wears off. It dawns on me just how powerful a drug it is. Then I recall riders taking the stuff before a ride and wonder how much damage they are doing to themselves.

Sorted the bike out Saturday night putting the Crud Roadracer 2,s on the back as gales and rain are forecast.  Sunday morning had me up early, looking out the window and putting the front one on too. This proved to be a mistake as apart from the road being flooded at the bottom of Rest Hill things dried out pretty quickly.

The mistake is Crud roadracers are a very tight fit on a Trek Madone and I’m subjected to an annoying rustle as every little piece of grit forces it’s way through the tight clearance on anything but the smoothest of surfaces.

Arrived at the Eureka around 9 with only about 6 in there at that time. It wasn’t to last with the Northend and CTC turning up in force.

I left the Eureka at 9:45 heading out to the Ice Cream Farm along the closed Capenhurst Lane.  Once out in the lanes the traffic was non existant, the sun was up and the wind was dying down. Things were pretty damn good.

Turned up at the ICF bang on 11 to meet up with Paul and the grandkids.
Headed out of the ICF towards Bruera and Saighton, where after passing a group on mountain bikes The Sunlight finally passed me.

 

They offered me a wheel so I tagged along on the back and got the camera out and took a few pictures. Just about hung on on the rise into Chester.

 

 

 

Tagged along with the CTC on the trip back to the Eureka and got held up by the cows crossing the lane going to get milked. One stood there looking at us for a couple of minutes, must be the dayglo jackets.

Another chance to test the MagicShine copy at the end of the ride, low light photography being an art I haven’t mastered. The 30 mph signs don’t come out well in this picture.

Not been a good week having picked up a groin strain. Haven’t been near the bike since Wednesday week, compounded by picking up another strain getting out of the Mini.
Paul had a Google Developer Conference in Berlin where he met up with the ClimbtheAlps.com developer, Dennis Wegewijs. It now has the 2012 Etape route in it. The views are unbelievable in Streetview.

In my current position I’ll have to give both of them a miss. 

I’ve had a set of MagicShine Bike Lights from DealExteme for about a year now and It’s now time to drag them out and make use of them.

The original 808 light was a copy of a Lupine Tesla 4 but at about a fifth of the price. I paid $75 for mine which is about £50.  For that you get a light that pumps out about 600-700 lumens on high mode from a single SSC P7 Led.

****** In ALL cases remove the screw that holds the handlebar clamp to the light body and apply some “Loctite”, nutlock or other threadlock compound.
Even a secure looking mount will work loose. As always you get what you pay for and in this case it won’t include threadlock.******

Comes with a 4400 mA/Hr battery that is supposedly  good for 3 hours.
Quality is good for the price but there are a few area where money has been saved. On the first generation the battery pack was not waterproof and it is fairly likely they were using unprotected cells. It led to a battery back recall in the US.
Shorting out unprotected Li-ion cells is not reccomended as there are explosive levels of energy involved.

Battery care, don’t let your battery go completly flat, ABOVE ALL don’t remove the charger from the wall while still connected to the battery. It will discharge to a level below  which  it will refuse to take a charge. It’s important other family members know this so as not to unplug the charger to plug in their phone.
This goes for ANY Li-Ion system.

The LED runs at 2800 mA which will quickly bring out any weaknesses in the heatsinking or the battery.  In use on a moving bike the light remains cool to the touch only heating up when stationary.

 

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/p7-water-resistant-ssc-p7-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82734

The above is a copy of the Magicshine 808 copy. The leads are not compatible with the Magicshine being 7.2 mm instead of 8.4 mm on the Magicshine. Waterproofing on the battery is poor and needs looking at before it gets wet. Beam is very similar to a MagicShine if not brighter. 3 modes including an insane  strobe mode, no annoying SOS mode.  Head unit looks well made and the mount looks like it is properly screwed on unlike the Magicshine which fell apart.
See update above, they all fall apart.

Swapping the leads would make it compatible with the Magicshine accessories.

Terrible picture above but you can ride an unlit path at a normal speed and the light is whiter than a car halogen light which are yellow in comparison.

Parts are dirt cheap, a couple of $ for leads, headbands. Upgraded battery packs are available that are waterproof and have a battery charge indicator.

Plenty of chatter about these lights on various forums as you’ll never see them in a magazine light shootout.

For  good reviews and beamshots of the lower price high power lights see Torcheys site below.
http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/bike-light-database.html