Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Legs of lead and a head full of poop

Here's hoping this attempt of mine to embed a wee map (from MapMyRide) works. At least I think that's embedding. I'd recommend clicking the view elevation button (scroll down the map) to see what my forthcoming snoozefest is about.

It's a snippet of a few miles cycling I did yesterday (along with other unmapped miles) which showed me to be the weakling I always suspected.

I am, however, a stubborn weakling as I refused to walk. I'd be lying to say I found it anything short of tough going but I twiddled up at a crawl in my tiny 30 front 29 rear gearing and eventually made it to the top. Sometimes I even threw it into a high gear like a 30/26 or 30/23 (for about ten feet at a time). I'm a regular Bert Grabsch with that kind of gearing.

That climb was probably no big whoop for most cycling types but, while pedalling up the 16% section into the strong headwind and looking at the black cloud on the mountain top, I kept thinking 'What kind of moron does this to himself?'. Needless to say, that was replaced with 'Yay! I feel brilliant for having done that' immediately upon reaching the summit.

Something I made an error of during my cycle was taking on too much caffeine. After caffeine infused gels, tablets in my juice (including accidentally dropping two into a bottle when it should have been one alone) and meeting my lovely lady for a couple of coffees (which she bought for me) on the way home, my stomach was not particularly grateful. I'm surprised my bowels didn't register a complaint too. Remarkably (and thankfully) they behaved themselves very well. Had they not, I dread to think of the consequences.

My GPS was annoying the boobies off me yesterday. It kept telling me I wasn't moving when I knew (albeit slowly) I was. It was behaving particularly badly about half way up my mountain (listen up belittling grumblers, it does officially count as a mountain) climb, bleeping constantly and being a regular pain in the bum. Eventually I had to switch the speed/cadence sensor off and let it get my pace from the GPS itself. I hope it turns out to be nothing more sinister than a battery in need of replacing. I'm sure a replacement unit is about forty pounds or more.

Has anyone been watching the UCI World Championships in Denmark? I'd say the chaps and lasses involved in that might be able to make it up my (to them) little bump of a climb yesterday hardly having broken sweat. They seem almost superhuman.

As you'll know if you're a regular here, I've been bitten by the cycle jersey buying bug of late. The other day I added to my recent addiction and got another Foska jersey. This time it was a black I Pay Road Tax jersey. What I didn't realise at the time is that it refers to the website www.IPayRoadTax.com. In my ignorance, I thought it was making referece to the majority of people on bicycles also owning cars and paying road tax. More fool me. As their website points out, I don't pay road tax at all. I pay vehicle tax. Here it is (copied and pasted) from the I Pay Road Tax website:

Road tax was abolished 74 years ago. Road tax doesn't exist. It's car tax, a tax on cars and other vehicles, not a tax on roads or a fee to use them. Motorists do not pay directly for the roads. Roads are paid for via general and local taxation. In 1926, Winston Churchill started the process to abolish road tax. It was finally culled in 1937. The ironically-named iPayRoadTax.com helps spread this message on cycle jerseys. Car tax is based on amount of CO2 emitted so, if a fee had to be paid, cyclists would pay the same as 'tax-dodgers' such as disabled drivers, police officers, the Royal family, and band A motorists, ie £0. Most cyclists are also car-owners, too, so pay VED. Many of those who believe road tax exists, want cyclists off the roads or, at least registered, but bicycle licensing is an expensive folly.

Like a lot of such websites, it appears the contributor(s) can be a bit vitriolic gut reaction at times but it generally seems fairly decent. They're also prone to taking ridiculous internet comments (which were presumably made in some pathetic attempt at humour by unfunny and unintelligent people) as if they're meant literally. I don't think that kind of action helps their cause much but they've got some good stuff to say in there too.

The point about people paying tax on their vehicles as opposed to paying directly for the road is a fair one and worth making. It is a bit of a tired cliche to hear people grumble about cyclists not paying road tax. Turns out we all don't, including those who drive Volvos.

While looking up the Foska website I noticed they sell novelty pasta. It's a bit expensive for my tastes but I still like it. I'm afraid it's much the same story when it comes to the prices of the coffee etc. at Big Maggy's online shop too. I'm a tightwad.
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