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Wednesday: Work, last day glorious weather to boot.
Thursday: Spin class at the Oval, laid another section of tiles in the kitchen, another glorious day. Called in at Aldi to see the Winter Cycling Offers.
Friday: Weather too good to miss so went out on a 40 mile Wirral ride.
Ended up at the Eureka where the Doc needed the use of the Lezyme tool to tighten a Mavic spoke.
Headed out to Liverpool where a gang from work were celebrating 30 of them getting finished up.
It was a really good turn out with 50 plus turning up, 3 blokes with 0ver 120 years service with the company. Not likely to be repeated by anyone I know these days.
The website was called “shit”, thanks Ian. Things move on, the original site is still all there in the pages across the top of the screen.(Jobs to do, check links still work)
Got the last bus home on what proved to be a really good day.
Saturday: Lie in then more work on the kitchen floor. Strange how you don’t associate Mapei Cycling Team with grout. This was triggered by seeing one of the old guys in the replica kit yesterday and reading the instructions off the bag and seeing the colours.
Sunday: Rain, record breaking temps over, glad I got a ride in.
Went to see Harry Potter in 3D before it finishes at the cinema.  An eyewatering £19.30 for 2. I normally go midweek for an early showing when prices are about half that for an empty cinema.

I’ve been posting about these for a few years now and the quality just improves year on year.
This years Winter Cycling Jacket has features found on really high end kit. The first thing that stood out was the thumb loops in the cuffs. No more gap between the glove and the cuff.
Comes with two rear pockets ,one of them zipped. The zipped pocket comes with an anchored lanyard to close the zip.
Water and wind repellant on the front  with Roubaix like inserts on the back and sides.
Gel on the waist seam will stop it riding up on a ride.

My only disappointment  was the lack of bibtights. The tights looked good with a decent pad.

The Winter Gloves don’t seem to have changed from a few years ago, good but there are more specific gloves out there if you are prepared to spend the money.

The Lighting set for £6.49 will get you seen and is better than no lights at all. If your on a roadbike you really need to be looking at something more specific again.

As I was coming out I bumped into a woman who was after shoes for her husband. At £20 they are about half the price of other entry level shoes.
SPD only and no pedals to match this year. It’s all a bit bonkers when you consider Look Keo cleats are £19.99 a set and last about 5 minutes.

Just a bit of a heads up to let you know where I’m at:

• Garminconnect. Now has a basic route planning function at long last. Nothing specatacular but at least it allows you to plot a Course.More in due course.
• Spinning. Still doing  the classes, bumped into one of the first instructors who was filling in for one of the regulars. Shocks to the system can do you good.
• Work. Still trying to get out of the place. Beset with a culture of closure. Dilbert sums it up.
• Home. Still got a kitchen in the back room a month after delivery. Grand Designs it isn’t but the tiling is nearly done. 600mm tiles just add to the headache. Still waiting for the guttering to be done, if you don’t want the job just let me know just don’t let me down.
• Aldi. Winter cycling offers on 29 Sep 2011. Separate post coming up, good stuff as usuall but can’t see no bibtights for some reason. Bibtights are what winter cycling is all about.  Don’t expect every store to have all the gear, there is a reccession going on and orders have beeen reduced in the last year or so. In short if you want it in your size be first through the door. Some stuff doesn’t move and gets reduced. Mega in the past but well worth a look in for the new cycle to work cyclist doing their first winter commute. Sizing is for a UK fit not Italian. Try it on in the store if possible, returns policy is generous but if you leave it too long the replacement size won’t be there for you. (hours in some cases).

Monday:  Tex’s morning spinning class at the Oval. Turned up as the online booking system is down. You can’t even book on the phone as they are using the same system. Finally got rid of the fridge by stuffing it in the Polo and taking it the recycling center.

Signed up for the Vita Steve Cummings Challenge Ride on Saturday after a short ride around the Wirral.  They new Oakley Split Jackets  are awesome giving a totally new outlook on everything. Opted for the polarised lens in black iridium. They add a surreal 3D effect to everything with a really strong depth of field.

Popped in to Vita in the afternoon where the Route was going to be mailed to everybody. Screwfix for some sockets and managed to book a spinning class at West Kirby once the booking system was back online.

Off work on Wednesday as the kitchen coming a.m. and I’m behind schedule.

Sundays route is in the Garmin only thing to do now is put air in the tyres ride out to the start and do the ride. Hope the weather is good.

One other thing clubs riding the Route without entering will be named and shamed. This event is a charity ride with profits going to Claire House. There are some good prizes in the raffle including 2 bikes and a signed jersey.
Claire,s mum called in at the shop on Saturday publicizing another event, I’d hate to see a true charity ride besmirched by some freeloading clubs.

Wednesday: rode the  Vita/ Steve Cummings Sportive.  Ended up doing 95 miles , picked up a puncture just after Dark Arc lane. The patch glue had dried out and the Park glueless patch was a let down so had to swap the tube.

Saturday: Volunteered to put the signs up for the long route.  Knew it was a fairly big job after riding the route on  Wednesday but didn’t thing it would take 9 hours. Was getting short of cable ties at the end of it.
Many thanks to I R McGarvey Opticians of Prenton for donating a pair of Team Sky Split Jacket Oakleys into the raffle. Same as mine but without the prescription lens.  A really nice piece of kit. There are 2 bikes in the raffle  along with a signed Sky Jersey, a helmet signed by Mark Cavendish.
All in aid of a good cause.
Next year promises to be even better.
The route sheet is next to unusable being computer generated it sticks the wrong turns in. The route wants a tweek here and there but is pretty much OK.  Bear in mind the abilities of people who sign up for this sort of event.
Haven’t seen Phil or Barry since I left the shop this morning but can imagine they are up to their necks in it.
Promises to be a great day. Hope the signs are still up in the morning.

Sunday: 4 AM A big heads up to Phil and Barry for sticking their necks on the line. Another heads up for all the sponsors. Next year will be mega.
Enjoy the ride and above all stay safe.
Most will be starting before the general population are up for their Sunday papers. Most of the roads are never busy but do follow the highway code and avoid riding two abreast when there are double white lines. (Mickle Trafford)
It’s not a race, but a great ride in a worthy cause.
You can do this sort of ride on any day of the week, it’s the Cause that counts.

The Ride: Got a lift to Ness Gardens as I overslept. I was still patching the tyre at 10 pm from the Wednesday recce. Things looked a bit chaotic as the security guard to open the gates didn’t turn up until 8 instead of 7 so there were no breakfasts to dish out. Signed on and headed out at 9 am. The sign in Burton was still up thankfully.
Picked up a guy in Woodbank who had latched on to a group not on the ride and backtracked to find the arrow.
Didn’t get his name but we rode together until the feed station at Delamere.
There were a couple of Tri guys looking lost at Backford as the route was going over the dual carriage way.  Steamed past us only for us to pass them in the lanes having a comfort break.
There were a couple of punctures around Wervin with one needing the Vita Assistance van.  Other than that there didn’t seem to be many problems. Passed the Tri mob again at the shop at Delamere when the feedstation was just a mile down the road.

Talked to Barry at the feedstation and ended up setting off on my own.
Had two lads on my wheel after Cob Hall lane  all the way back to Cheshire Oaks, where I took to the cyclepath. It was all big ring stuff and the legs feel like they can hack it. I’d signed the route as per the GPS track but opted to take the Missing Link it’s a no brainer, saw the 35mile group the other side of it.

Stopped for a pint of Wainwright at the Thatch the bulk of the ride completed.
Called in at the shop to have a chat and a look at the Parlee frame they have in.
Probably one of the last lugged carbon fibre frames around it looks really nice.

The long route crosses course at the shop so was hard to mark up with a few calling back in to see which way it went. Left at the junction and pick the arrows up again. Missed the Hoylake loop out as it was a bit pointless and probably won’t feature in the ride again.
Likewise , busy roads.
Nice to go along the front at Parkgate, then it was through Neston to the finish.
No signing back in, that needs addressing in future as you don’t know who is still out on the road.
The raffle went really well, fairly unique in a Sportive.
The breakfast porridge was been given away and I took a tub, saw another one on Route 56, must have fallen out of someones jersey pocket.

What doesn’t fall out of jersey pockets is discarded gel wrappers, there weren’t  too many but they were ours. I like my Cheshire countryside unspoilt  my wrappers went in the  Disco Channel Musette.
Rule #77.
Perhaps Vita musettes for next year?

There is going to be a next year, with all the bugs ironed out.

Monday: Work
Tuesday: Work. Watched Tour of Poland. My Colnago got a mention on Eurosport as it was a Kazak team bike on the 1992 Milk Race. Graham Weigh as got a mention too as that is where the bike originally came from. Needs the rear triangle repairing as the bonding on the chainstay has parted company with the lug.
Wednesday: Work, last day.  Seen and heard some  daft challenges in my time but a one mile race on a new cycle to work bike is the latest. £20 is at stake which wouldn’t be too bad if the guy knew what he was doing. Only ridden 2 1/2 miles on it, took the toe clips off because he doesn’t need them. Bought a gel saddle rather than a pair of shorts. Planning to ride into work (20 miles) in an hour with no spares other than the Kevlar tyres he had fitted.
I’d have come in on my day off to watch this.
Thursday: Spinning class at the Oval, Tesco meal deal for lunch. Had to go to the Coop for the comic as there is no space for it at Tesco no wonder circulation is static.
Started to rip up the  tiles in the kitchen along with the plaster. An SDS drill makes short work of it. Cleaning it up is another matter.
Evening  spinning class at West Kirby, was throwing it down when I booked it but brilliant sunshine on the way to it. Should have got out on the bike instead.
Ordered a chisel from Screwfix so will have to pick that up.
Weight has stayed steady, dropping 100g from the last reading.
No sign of the new Oaklies yet or should I say the rest of the order.
Friday: Booked an evening Trixster bike class. Might get a short ride in and there is the kitchen to do. Entered the Steve Cummings Challenge ride.
Route is still a bit vague and it’s done in reverse. The original is a cracking ride as once you’ve made it up Primrose Lane it is mostly downhill. You can use momentum on the downhill sections to attack the climbs.

Saturday:  Short ride out to the Eureka visiting a tile shop on the way out as the kitchen is in bits. Met up with Dave who had just got back from Llandegla.
28 miles and got caught in a shower. Daves found a new screen while riding a GPX Course so the Dummies Guide is going to need an update.

Decided to consolidate 3 weeks posts in to one for the month.
Not a lot going on ride wise other than a couple of trips around the Wirral.
The only other thing of note is a need to wear glasses for driving and riding for that matter.  Not done anything about a trip to the Tour but offset this by watching it on Eurosport in HD. With the new specs it is truly stunning, just like being there.
Ordered a replacement prescription lens for the Radars at the heady price of £165. Other than that I’ve been doing spinning classes at the Oval, West Kirby and Leasowe subject to availability.
New helmet is a Kask Vertigo in Sky colours, far better than the old Giro Atmos. Much better protection for the temples as well as being better finished for what at the end of the day is injection moulded foam and plastic which costs buttons.

Protection wise there is nothing different between the £6-7 budget helmets to the eye watering price I paid, they all have to pass the same tests. No VAT  so some one is making a killing.

Met Dave at the Eureka on Friday  and chatted about the recent Twitter wars, rode back to Vita and had a look at the Lightweight Wheels, lightweight is an understatement. They are feather weight and come with a 120KG weight limit.

Called in at Prenton to check out the Oakley SplitJacket glasses, they are on order.

Saturday:  Got a call from Vision Express that the Radar lens was in so out on the bike to pick them up and put another lap around the coast. Sunny but a bit breezy. Back home to watch the Tour time trial.
Sunday: Day out at Llandudno doing a spot of trainspotting.
Got caught up in the traffic jam following an accident at Two Mills, had to use a bit of local knowledge to get around it.  Had a radio blackout as I didn’t want to know the result of the final Tour stage as I’d video plussed it for watching later.

Saturday:  Called in at Vita who put this rather nice set of wheels on. Got to admit they do look nice. Phil got knocked off his bike last week by the Thatch but luckily the Reynolds carbon wheel held up despite him loosing two teeth.

The shop ride had just got back in and I’ve got to admit they do look quite good in the shop jerseys.

Sunday: Trip to Llandudno with the grandkids. Lashed out on a bucket and spade along with a fishing net. He’s not going to catch anything with that I said. Well the proof is in the pudding, the grandsons first catch, a tiny fish and a shrimp.

Headed back to Chester to pick up a Park cable cutter from the Bike Factory. A heady £37 but what a revelation. Been 51 years on the planet and am only just getting some things. The right tool for the right job is one of them, I’ve been cutting cables with hacksaws even an angle grinder but this is so simple it’s a must.
The reason a shifter upgrade to 6700 Ultegra. I’ve not been too impressed by some of the  installations, cable guides causing them to rub the frame on the larger headsets. Standard cables too long  for the bike on display.  I’d want this level of detail on any bike even a £500 one never mind what I’m willing to pay.

The things you need to know when changing Shimano Ultegra  groupsets.
A front double mech and lever 6600 is not compatible with a 6700 mech and lever, as there is an extra 1 mm distance between the 2 chainrings.  Shimano 6703 seems OK  on 6603 front chainrings. 10 speed rear seems fine.

Vita Due Sportive link added.

Monday: New levers fitted and bar s taped up. Went out for a ride and it looked really clean.
Probably going to do Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool next Sunday.
Tuesday: Kitchen to sort out, did the rounds of those still in business. B+Q carrying too much stock of stuff nobody wants, might want to see me Saturday, Magnet couldn’t get off their arses so no sale there.
Called in at Wickes who are selling off the display including the appliances.
Picked up £1600 worth of oven and hob for £350. Pure chance, grab it when you can. Looks like my Tour is going to be in Eurosport HD at this rate.

Vita Due Sportive consider giving it a go as it is in aid of a good cause, Claire House. Also had some rather good goodies up for grabs including a signed Steve Cummings jersey, two bikes , helmets  and so on.

Wednesday:  Spent the last week or so wondering whether to purchase a bike on the Cycle to work scheme but finally opting to refurbish the Carbitubo. A trip to C and G finishes last week had me scouring the internet for some original stickers.  More when I get back from the Eureka.
A really pleasent day in the end possibly spoilt by having an extra layer on. Bumped in to Dave at the Cafe followed up by Ray who was on his 3rd 100 of the week. That’s 35 hundreds this year with his record of 620 miles in one week, for the record he’s 71. Called in at Ness Gardens where things have changed a bit since I last called in.
Most obvious is that it is now all waitress service, which is fine if you’ve got a bit of time on your hands. I headed for the fridge thinking I was barging into a wedding reception ( as there are notices about them) and got a smile while paying for an orange juice. It looks great, whether it could cope with a big group is another matter.
Parkgate next for a water stop, passed by a CTC group who were stopping at the public toilets. These must be one of the worst public toilets around, they’d been far better off calling in at one of the pubs on the front.
Next stop was Vita in Irby where I loitered a bit too long as it meant cutting out a few miles from the ride.
As it was a shortened ride I headed out to Greasby and then Frankby via the lanes. All was going well until a slug of cars passed me in the lanes with a Gunform van nearly squeezing me out by overtaking me on a bend with traffic coming the other way. Good job he had cleared the junction by the time I’d got there because road rage works two ways. Boy it was close, probably only six inches of clearance, need a helmet camera.
Next stop was Vale Park for a Coke then along the front to Woodside and then home for what turned out to be 42 miles.
Thursday: Morning spinning class , painting and decorating and an evening spinning class.
Friday: Glorius day, 25 Deg C tempered by the fact that 2 spinning classes does take it out of you and a headwind is still a headwind no matter how good the weather. Rode out to the Eureka for lunch, spent too much time in good company yapping and taking in the sun and headed home. Had double booked spinning classes at the Oval and West Kirby so cancelled the Oval one online as the bikes are not as good as the old ones at West Kirby.
Only 7 turned up with 4 blokes in the class which is unusual as we are normally well outnumbered.  By the look of things they were all in the beer gardens.
Saturday: Took the grandkids out with Paul which ended up at the Ice Cream Farm. Fitted new chain to the Trek in preperation for the Bob Clift Memorial ride next Sunday.
Sunday: A final check of the bike before heading out had me taking out another link of the chain. Then I found out I’ve only been using 9 gears out of 10 because of the poor cable adjustment not shifting onto the 10th cog. Got to grips with the B+ adjustment too. There is a fine line that I’ve crossed by going for 28 on the rear and an ultra low of 26 on the front granny ring.
Took it out to the Eureka for a shakedown ride as I’m still getting ghost shifts while under load. The only thing I can put this down to is wear in the pivot of the rear mech.  Not too happy with the Nokon cables either, they look great but any movement of the outer alters the cable length and cause a ghost shift. Plus they creak like crazy and drive you nuts.
Painted the shower room door when I got back and booked into West Kirby for a spinning class as watching paint dry is a bit pointless.

It must have been the weather as the class was packed, I’m just getting to grips with online booking which got me a bike at the last minute. Most must have been expecting Barbara, who rang in with a sickie. Instead we had Kirsty, well you wouldn’t want to meet her in the day job but it was a bloody good spinning class, hard.
Tried  “Back to Start” on the Edge 800 on the way home. No direction or routing, just a blue line to follow on the map. Means staying on the map screen all the way home, which is a bit pointless as you wouldn’t be lost.

Two Weeks posts to cover this week. Had a setback with the VW Polo leaking water from the heater matrix. A dealer repair would have cost a fortune as it would have involved removing the dash probably draining the AirCon. As it was it took the best part of 3 riding days to fix.  The last 2 repairs have been with modified parts to what was fitted originally so it’s happening to a lot of them.
Monday: Tex’s spin class at the Oval then started on the car.
Tuesday: More work on the car and another spin class.
Wednesday: Car sorted no leaks, a trip up to Vita and then Beckys spin class at the Oval. The online booking system is showing most classes fully booked but when I went down in the hope of a no show, there were 4 unused bikes.
Sorted the Colnago Carbitubo out for Thursdays ride after seeing the BBC4 program about the chap who went to see all the bike bits made for his new bike.
Not a bad program but why would you buy a pair of wheels from the States?
The plan is to get the bike equiped with Campagnolo along with a new set of wheels. Can’t have an Iconic Italian bike with Shimano on it.
Thursday: Watched the program again before it got deleted from the Iplayer and headed to see Colin Brick about Campy stuff.
Got a mile from the shop and heard the ping of a spoke go. Didn’t think much of it at the time.
Headed out towards Seacombe and the prom on a really nice riding day. Met Janet and company at Vale Park putting up Sustrans signs. Must get my entry in for the Bob Clift Memorial ride which clashes with the Bikeathon.

If you need to ask the price you can’t afford it, just short of £9K. That’s without DI2 too. True race position, just look at the seat to bar drop.

Monday: Work, a trip to see a dermatologist followed by a spinning class at the Oval.
Tuesday: Tex,s morning spin class, sorted the Garmin out by deleting the faulty .fit file. Not a problem with Garminconnect but it was a problem with TrainingCentre. Weights for about 15 mins bits around the house and a bit of cycling on on Eurosport. Booked Beckies 7 oclock class as the 6 oclock class was full. There were only 5 of us  in it. I felt a bit flat for this one. Bought a new pair of  Asics trainers to replace the Mizunohos. Not as stiff as the Mizunohos in the spinning class but it’s a start.
Wednesday: Decided to swap a ride day for a day working on the house. Watched the cycling and also downloaded the latest RealPeloton podcast which deserves a link. Carbon Stem in the post from China for silly money, the postage costing more. Finally found a use for Workouts in the Edge 800, logging a spinning class.  Shows Heartrate, Calories and Time which is all you need.
Thursday:
A windy ride out to the Eureka via Eastham and Cheshire Oaks Cycles. I’d started out going to the Oval to get my pin number for the Invigorate card only to find the computers down again.  It was quite pleasant going through Port Sunlight with quiet roads being the norm after rush hour and the school run.Walked through the door of the Eureka only to be told I was the first cyclist in, I had thought it was shut seeing no bikes outside. Use it or loose it.

Next Dave The Mayor comes in and we have a chat with Ann about other Cafes, banned riders riders on forums etc etc.

Dave has signed up for the Saturday Vita rides and this is what he is going to be up against, Sean,s new toy. In the light of the shop it looked a bit pink I kid you not.
Some really nice touches to it. Getting urged to go on the rides to give Sean a bit of competition. If it’s anything like the test rides it’ll be totally bonkers.

It’s really funny watching people come into the shop not realising what a decent bike costs. Some good deals on Kuota and Eddy Merx.  The shop is unusual that you can try the bikes out. It does pay off as they packed me off with two Fizik saddles last week after trying the fitting system.  Ended up with the one with a bit more padding but still saving 125 gramms over the Bontrager one. My backside is still getting used to it but it does offer support on the sit bones.

Morrisons again on the return leg with no local resident trying to take me out this week.  Back on the Hoylake front the wind had dropped and it’s turning out to be a nice quiet ride. Called in at Europa Pools to get my pin as Louises spinning class was forming a queue outside the room. It was mentioned in Beckies class that we would be doing 8 sets of 8 to Sandstorm by Darude and not by me.

As I’ve returned to spinning again I noticed a lot of newcomers trying the classes again. For God,s sake take your first one easy, your not competing agianst me or the rest of the class. Just aim to finish the class. If someone in the class is doing 140mph they are spinning a wacking big flywheel with no resistance and gaining nothing.
Conversly there will be other women in the class that have been doing it for over 10 years. Tex,s classes are known for being hard and that applies to the circuits too.  He’ll come around and stick some tension in if your not doing any work.
Bring water and a towel.
Chestpresses, there is a knack, if you whang 5 kg up and down on a weight machine thinking it’s doing you any good think again. This is a reduced bodyweight manouvre that needs some strength, you won’t expecting to be doing pressups in a spinning classs but they are part of the routine especially in the women led classes.

I didn’t win a nice Colnago on Ebay with the bike going for £979 against my bid of £25.
Friday: Tex,s spinning class at the Oval, now booked online. Looks like Barbara,s classes at West Kirby are fully booked up. A trip to Vals allotment had the poly tunnels wrecked by yesterdays wind. Took the Mini  back to Bathers for the puncture repair. Thank god I specified normal tyres and not runflats.
A trip around Birkenhead had me come out of Smiths with four magazine.
Then it was off to Europa Pools for Sheila,s spinning class. Sweated loads in this one for 400 odd calories worth. Shower then home.
An upload from the Garmin edge 800 had me doing 144.8 mph on yesterdays ride due to a fault with the cadence sensor.
Saturday: Work, but should be a good day for the Vita cycle ride.
Clicked on this link and found my Colnago Carbitubo in the top 100 and looking at the silly money some of it is fetching it might be worth rebuilding.
http://www.thamesandhudson.com/cyclepediacontents.html

Removed Daves dead link  to his Garmin basemap renaming so might have to do a page on that too. The Shwinn spinning bikes at Europa Pools are  a lot harder on you than the Precor bikes at the Oval. More robust too.

Just  found links from other sites about maps etc.  My current best advice is for a 705 use City Navigator on SD . For a Garmin Edge 800 , is buy  the OS map bundle. On NO account buy the old DVD version which is sitting on a lot of shelves, it is NOT the same as an OS map.
Updates are on the way, if something is not looking right post a comment and I’ll get back to you.