never trust sat nav

sometimes it pays just to trust your own instincts and not follow sat nav, otherwise you and your car might go for a bit of a swim

new training technique

my bro decided on a friday night to field test some new hydration techniques to try and make erg sessions easier for me

so far preliminary results show no conclusive data for/against this particular method, but apparently after the erg session he had a pretty good night

kiwi ingenuity

well today was one of those occassions I got quite stressed when something on my bike didnt go quite to plan.

i was putting a new seat on my track bike, a lovely white rolls saddle, plush and like riding in an arm chair.

as the rolls is quite a high seat i had to drop the seat post in the frame to keep the same height, normally a pretty simple operation but sometimes with aero seat posts they can get jammed and a bit tight.

so i chucked the rolls on then seat about lowering the seat a good couple of centimeters, at first it didnt budge at all, so i applied a bit more weight to it, still nothing, so i applied a bit more, so i really started to lean on it-still nothing. so i made sure everything was as loose as it could be and leaned on it again, nothing, so i went for the standard bike rider technique at this stage and gave it pretty much everything i had to try to get it to shift and drop, at first nothing, then, it moved-quite suddenly, and this is where my problems started. the seat post moved and like the bastard it was being it completely bottomed itself out with all the pressure i was applying to it.

then the fun started, it had jammed. completely and utterly jammed at the bottom of the frame and was not shifting again, i hoped and prayed it was somewhere about the right height but it was 6cm to low, so i had to try and shift it again, and it was just stuck.

nothing i could do could shift it, side to side, front to back, bike upside down standing on the seat, trusty wd40 on the seat post, nothing. i tried for a good hour and a half to get something happening with panic quickly creeping in everytime i tried something and it didnt work, with the world cup just over 3 weeks away it wasnt helping my nerves, then i had a tiny bit of a brain wave and through up the hail mary to get it out

it involved the following

taking the seat out and putting a spanner through the seat clamp......and

hitting it with this, the "persuader"

and im very happy to report a couple of good upward cracks on the spanner with this and it slowly came loose and popped out, crisis averted!!!! now i just have to wash the oil/wd 40 off the seat post and start all over again!! bit of outside thinking to get it sorted but when you have no other option, hitting something with a sledgehammer will normally do something haha

not a whole lot going on

lately there hasnt been a whole bunch going on, its been erg, road rides, or recovery rides, plus a whole bunch of stretching as i get used to trying to pedal at 120 rpm again, eeeeeeeeeeeek.
im finally going to have a day off tomorrow to knock it up down at Alton Towers, which is apparently the biggest fun park in the UK, so lots of roller coasters coming up for me tomorrow which im looking forward too! I've never been to a big fun park before so should be a mint day out!!

tour of lowther

this weekend i raced the last of the scottish super 6 series, the tour of lowther, which started in Wanlockhead, which is apparently the highest village in all of scotland, at a whopping 1500 feet above sea-level.
the course was 4 laps of a pretty tough circuit, with a 6 mile climb on each lap plus another small pinches, and to top things off it was freezing cold, one of the only races i have ever done where ive run in full leg warmers all day!
the race whittled down really quickly after the first lap, and i actually had my climbing legs on for once and was still in the front group. with 14 guys left in the front group and 4 guys from the endura team i was trying to hide as much as possible, both because it really wasnt my responsibility to chase down the breaks and i had also done an erg session in the morning before the race just to really smash myself and my legs were not 100%!!
coming into the last lap after splitting and regrouping in the wind and climbs for 100km it came down to the last accent and thats where both the attacks started big time and my legs decided to tell me to piss off!!!
on the 3rd time up the climb the sttacks had been pretty hard and i had just managed to get myself up the climb still with the front group, and the last time up with the finish at the top of the climb it was going to be a big ask to drag myself and the big avanti up there with the fly weights, and in the end the fly weights won out on the day haha
i hit the finish completely spent, but with a good day under the belt for the manchester world cup which is coming up at the end of october.
in saying that i am really bummed i cant ride the tour of southland this year to help gordy out, from everything i hear heis flying and it sucks i cant be there in the 5 man team to help him try and win a deserved tour of southland title again, but im pretty sure the boys in the subway-avanti team will do their utmost to help him out, and ill be down there to help support from the thursday of the tour onwards so be able to give a bit of a hand if need be, i might even guest DS in the car with the big man Humey for a laugh hahah, im sure the boys would be fizzin to hear me on the radio-"its windy, Gordy attac..............................oh you already have dont worry" hahahaha

dodgin the rain

the last week has been spent dodgin the rain, with a hell of a lot of erg time going under the belt as well, im kinda slowly starting to love the erg again, in a sick sort of way, so its been good.
just back from another 3 hours today with jimmy mac in the wet, got a big race on this weekend, the last round of the scottish 6 series, so hopefully be able to fly the flag a little in the 120km hilly race and get stuck into it!

the gas game

a wee while ago i got picked up at the airport by mike northey who rides for the Landrover - Orbea team.


he was running late, which wasnt a huge surprise and pulled up in one of the team Landrovers and off we went.


what first came to my attention when i got in was that the fuel light was on, and the fuel mileage was showing 0 miles left.


after driving on a pretty big motorway in Portland, i asked mike if we should get any gas.


nope, he replied, all good.



he told me they liked playing the gas game, where you drive round for as long as you can dare on empty and try and get home, so the next person has to stop and fill it up.

mike then got us really lost, we must have done a good hour and a half on empty, finally pulled into the driveway with a huge grin on the face as he put the keys on the hook, leaving the landrover with basically vapour in the tank and a shit of a morning to whoever drove it the next day