Lately it seems almost all of Europe has been subjected to wretched horrid wet weather. Unsurprisingly we haven't avoided any of it here. As a result, my cycling excursions have been limited for the last couple of weeks.

I got complacent during a few hot dry weeks and forgot we normally have cold wet weather. I wasn't the only imbecile. Everybody seemed to be straight out in their shorts, short sleeves etc. Basking in the sun with no memory of the previous weather conditions was de rigueur for a short but glorious period of time.

[Apologies in advance for the boring statistics you're about to read or choose not to read] Beginning on Saturday the 19th of May at 9-41am, I cycled a route I do from time to time. I wore bib-tights and a winter jersey with a baselayer below. The temperature averaged  10.8°C/51.5°F for my excursion with a minimum of 6°C/42.8°F and a maximum of 17°C/62.6°F (which lasted about a minute and was right at the end of my cycle). Setting out at 9-42am on Saturday the 26th of May, I cycled almost exactly the same route, in shorts and a short sleeved jersey, and the average temperature was 25.8°C/78.4°F. The minimum was 21°C/69.8°F and the maximum was a whopping 32°C/89.6°F (again for a very short period right at the end of the cycle). Much as I like it, I'm not sure my Edge 800 is one hundred percent accurate with temperature but, assuming it's vaguely correct, how are such changes in temperature in a mere week even possible?

It's now (as you can tell from the date on this post) the middle of June. I went out for a cycle yesterday and had to wear a long sleeved baselayer below a short sleeved jersey and a pair of 3/4 length bib-knickers to cope with an 11.2°C/53.2°F average temperature. This is all rather discombobulating. I seem to remember there being definite seasons when I was a child. Perhaps it's a rose tinted memory and we've always had crazy temperature changes. Whilst on the subject of weather; Do you know lots of people who obsess over the weather despite not partaking in any activity which the weather affects? It seems loads of people gripe and moan about the terrible weather even though they spend almost their entire lives indoors. If I didn't want to do anything outdoors, I don't think the rain would bother me too much. 

Despite the weather grumbles, I managed to get out for a cycle last Sunday. Normally Sunday is the day we'd go out with one of the local clubs but I was trying out a new pair of Northwave 'Extreme Tech' shoes and didn't think my stopping constantly to adjust my cleats would be popular on a club run. I bought them because the Diadora 'ProRacer 2.0' shoes I bought a couple of months ago have started to hurt that bony bit on the top-right of my left foot. The Diadoras have got a little plate where the adjustable strap anchors and it has hurt my foot far more than one might imagine. It really is quite close to agony to attempt to wear the shoes. I tried e-mailing Chain Reaction (where I bought them) ten days ago and was told they were going to contact Diadora and get back to me. I'm still waiting. That's not good customer service. Besides, what useful insights are Diadora going to share? Will they send me some magic dust to sprinkle over the problem area and make everything okay?

Anyway, I'm wittering and should get back to my original point... I was out cycling last Sunday. While cycling uphill on a skinny country road, a car was hurtling downhill (toward me) at quite a pace. I did that invisible basketball dribble with my right hand to signal for the driver to slow down a bit. He didn't. Rather than brake, he decided to flip me the bird. Not pleased by this, I returned his bird with one of my own. Apparently it was okay for him to do this to me (and risk my life by nearly driving into me at speed) but my return of his gesture was beyond the pale. The ignoramus (the one in the car, not the one on the bike) stopped his car and began to reverse toward me. I, being a wuss, was rather frightened at the prospect of being punched/beaten/run over and kept cycling on as I had been. Thankfully the Neanderthal only reversed a little and then drove on but it reminded me, when cycling, it pays to have a long fuse and a short memory. 

We're so vulnerable when out on our bikes, compared to those driving large metal machines. If people shout abuse, drive dangerously, gesture in a less than pleasing manner etc. it seems the safest course of action from the cyclist is complete inaction. It's not easy to ignore someone who is being aggressive and bullying toward one but pressing on and trying to forget about it is probably the best thing to do. It's frustrating. People, of course, should not be treating one another in such a manner and people who do treat other likes that certainly shouldn't be behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Unfortunately they are and all we can do is try to make our cycles as enjoyable and safe as possible. As my almost blown rear tyre has shown me, there are enough potential dangers for cyclists outside the actions of others without enraging some idiot stranger too.

Sorry about writing quite so much and thanks for reading. 

Ranting, cycling and boring

Heed the warning (on your left). I am about to rabbit on, in a completely uninteresting manner, about cycling nothings. 

Today, I find myself sitting indoors as constant rain spatters the world outside me. I'm not grumbling. It could be a lot worse. I've been drinking overly sweet coffees and am currently watching live coverage of the Giro d'Italia (often my favourite annual sporting event) on Eurosport. Life isn't too bad at all. Besides, I got out for a great cycle yesterday and my legs would probably appreciate the rest. They're not as young as they once were. 

I've had the pleasure of getting out on my bicycle a reasonable (for me) amount recently. Unlike a lot of neighbouring countries, it has generally been quite dry here. Sure, we've had strong winds but (as an old man once said to me about hills) you've got to try to look at that as an investment; It might be in your face on the outward leg of your journey but you'll be glad of it on the way home. That's the theory anyway. I'm not sure it works quite like that in reality. Yesterday was extremely calm and I found that considerably preferable.

So, what have I been up to in my unexciting word of cycling excursions? Probably the main event which happened (or almost happened) was last Saturday. I was out cycling on my own in a bright yellow jersey, coming down a little bit of a downhill and about to pass through a crossroads where I had right of way. Yep, we can all see where this is going. As I was coming downhill, I had good visibility and could see a small van (one of the wee vans with a car type front and van rear, if that makes sense) stopped at the end of the road to my right. The driver sat there for maybe five seconds or more and then pulled out, to his right, just as I was about to pass. 

It was so close, I could easily have touched the van and, in retrospect, am a bit sorry I didn't give it a slap to see if the driver thought he'd hit me and would have stopped. I was able to look right in the passenger window at the driver. After he passed, I shook my fist a bit (no rude gestures, which I thought was very reserved of me) and signalled to stop and come back. Unsurprisingly, he didn't. 

Thankfully I got the registration and was able to give it to the police along with a basic description of the driver. I found the police surprisingly helpful. That's not to say I expected them to be deliberately unhelpful. I simply imagined I'd get a 'Sorry, we can't really do anything about it' response. Instead they said it was terrible, I should be able to cycle without fear on the roads and they will try to track down the driver and have a word with him to let him know he's on file and this sort of behaviour is not acceptable. That's better than I imagined. I understand they can't prosecute with nobody else there as an eyewitness or without a confession from the driver himself. It turns out the van is registered to a company. With any luck, the driver will get in trouble with his bosses and possibly face some sort of disciplinary action there. Well, I live in hope. 

Obviously I was able to keep everything together and not get run off the road (just about) but it seems likely the intent of the driver was to try to get me to crash. Especially with my coming downhill at reasonable pace, that could have been pretty nasty. Even if the intent wasn't there and it was merely that the driver didn't notice me, I'm not sure that's any better. If people are driving about who can't see cyclists in bright jerseys, it would be nice to stop them driving around at all.

What else have I been up to? I've been getting a few more miles with those Time pedals I did a fumbling review of recently and continue to be impressed. One tiny niggle (actually less than a niggle but I can't think of a word lighter than niggle) is how I seem to be able to half-clip in from time to time. It doesn't happen terribly often but it would be better if it didn't happen at all. It may well be down to me and my clumsiness. What will happen is, I'll try to clip in and my cleat will get to a point where it's kind of in the pedal but doesn't feel fully engaged. I then seem to have to unclip and clip in again. It's not a big problem and, as I mentioned, may be down to my poor motor skills. Even when it is semi-clipped, I can still pedal happily enough; I just wouldn't like to have to rely on it when standing.

I was lucky recently; my heart rate strap stopped working. That, in and of itself, doesn't sound particularly lucky. However, it stopped working eight days before the warranty would have run out and I was able to get a replacement. Being me, I had (of course) ordered a replacement strap as soon as it stopped working and ended up with a second strap. That wasn't bad news for KG as it means she was able to switch her old heart rate strap for one of the new softer fabric ones. Plus, it means the old strap is there as backup if either of the new ones stops working. It's all good, as I believe I once heard a person say, possibly in a film.

On the subject of KG, I'm sorry to say she's been experiencing a bit of knee pain recently herself. She cut a few (uphill) miles off the end of yesterday's cycle to attempt to save her knee a bit. Here's hoping she doesn't continue to have any bother with it. Some stretching, overuse of Biofreeze and and strengthening exercise should help matters.

I've been reading the book French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France. Have you read it? I initially started reading our copy of it quite a few years ago, decided I didn't like Tim Moore (the author) very much and stopped. I decided to go back to it recently and, while I'm still not overly enamoured with the author, I find parts of the book fairly interesting and amusing. Some of the book, I'd say, should be taken with a pinch of salt. I fear Moore is a fibber at best and outright liar at worst. He's a difficult man to like and gives many reasons not to but it's still reasonably entertaining reading at times, if a little drawn out to fill pages (says Mr. Pot about Mr. Kettle although, with my being merely some unread internet random, I don't feel any guilt about doing so).

Another one of my feeling manly without any good reason about repairing my bike moments happened the other day. I'd been having a spot of bother with my forks jiggling about a little. To explain a bit better; if I had my front brakes on, there was a millimetre or two of motion if I tried to move my bike forward and/or backward. Oh and there was an unpleasant clicking noise too. Well, the noise wasn't unpleasant so much as the reason behind the noise. A nice man in a bike shop told me it was probably due to the headset being a bit loose inside the steerer. He then showed me a couple of different types of headset so I could understand how they gripped the inside of the steerer. Thankfully the headset on my bike was of the easy to adjust yourself with an allen key variety. Despite getting confused twice in a row and letting part of the headset fall down into the tube, I finally managed to understand anti-clockwise turns tightened the unit in place, did that, replaced the stem and spacers and, amazingly, it seems good.I was able to fix it in a matter of a few minutes. Just goes to show what a tiny iota of passed on knowledge can do. It saved me the time and money of having to take the bike to a professional and means I don't have to be without it for a day or two. Hurrah! The world is wonderful. 

I think that's quite enough of my witterations for now. For anyone reading, it must be like receiving a really boring e-mail which wasn't actually intended for you. Thanks for your patience.

Thoughts of a mildly uninteresting kind

While partaking in the loathsome boredom of grass cutting, my mind often wanders from the matter in hand and onto more interesting (subjectively) topics. Such was the case today as I was thinking about, among other things, cycling. Who could have guessed?

One thought which entered my head was how windy it was while I was partaking in the grass shortening exercise. That reminded me of my recent change in cycling attire. When it is (what passes for) summer I'd normally wear my bib-shorts with a short sleeved jersey directly over them. Earlier this year, however, I had a bit of a chest problem and was 'laid up' for about two months. This seemed to happen very soon after a cycle. I wondered if the two were related. I still don't know if they were linked but it led to my buying a couple of Craft sleeveless base layers. I haven't had any chest problems since.

Although it seems counter-intuative to wear another layer on a hot day (not that we get a surplus of such here) I've found it beneficial to have a thin base layer on. In my ignorance I feared I might overheat but that hasn't been the case at all. I suppose, if the professionals wear base layers in hot conditions, putting out the effort they do, there almost has to be something in it and the chances of my getting too hot here, at my low speeds, are fairly minimal.

Another topic which popped (or pooped) into my mind was my GPS. I'm continually fascinated by having a GPS on a bicycle. I know it's not especially new technology now but I'm easily impressed and, to me, it's quite the wonder.

I was pleased to discover a simple way to export routes from MapMyRide onto my Edge 800. I had been plotting a course on MapMyRide, exporting it as a '.gpx' file (for some reason it no longer exports directly in the '.crs' format) and then going to GPSies to convert that over to a '.crs' file and uploading that into Garmin Training Centre so I could then upload the course into my Edge. That was all a bit 'clunky' and pointlessly time consuming. Thanks to typing some query I can't remember into Google and clicking on a random website, I now know an easier (and probably obvious to most) way to put courses on my Edge.

All I have to do is save off the '.gpx' file from MapMyRide and copy & paste it into the 'Garmin > New files' folder on the Edge. As if by magic, the GPS does the rest and realises it's a route. It doesn't seem to show elevation in the route but that's only a small downside. For me it's more important to be able to use it for navigation.

As an example of how MapMyRide works, here's a route I just mapped:


On the topic of the Edge 800 and elevation, that's still being a bit of a pain in the bum. A few times now it has got my initial elevation completely wrong. Sometimes it starts me off a couple of hundred (or more) feet below my actual elevation. It keeps count correctly during the cycle but everything is a couple of hundred feet low. It works sometimes and doesn't others. I just need to remember to check and manually set the elevation (which is simple to do in one of the device's menus) if it does go wrong. Sadly, I'm forgetful.

Edge 800 etc.

Hello there (probably non-existent) readers. No prizes for guessing what my boring drivel is about this time. That's right, I bought a Garmin Edge 800 a couple of weeks ago and have finally got to use it, not once but twice! Oh the joys of a summer here (aka two bright days).

Enough weather related griping, what about the Edge 800? Is it any good? In short, yes, it is. I like it very much indeed.

Prior to my recent purchase, I'd been using an Edge 305 for around the last four or five years. I'd found it great but was lured in by the bright lights, colour display and touch screen of the 800. Does the Edge 800 offer much more in functionality when compared with the unit I already had? Probably not, for my purposes anyway. Is it a lot more aesthetically pleasing, user friendly and generally advanced? You betcha! Plus, I got a 'free' (ie. included in the price) Garmin-Cervelo jersey with it. I fell for that one hook, line and sinker.

The easiest and least 'waffly' way for me to express (not in the lactating way) my thoughts on this would be to list its pros and cons, as I see them so far:

PROS:

• Touchscreen makes it easier to navigate menus, navigate (oh, a terrible pun) between pages etc. than button pressing had been
• Good sized backlit colour screen is easy to read and looks pleasing
• Satellite navigation exists in this version (although the Edge 305 was a GPS, it didn't show on screen maps, let one plot routes etc.) but you can see below how I griped about the base map
  
• Battery life (if the gauge is to be remotely believed) seems improved over the Edge 305 despite the more advanced screen etc.
• Mounting system for attachment to bicycle seems sturdier than the 305's (not that I experienced any problems with the older version) and 'locks' in a more satisfactory manner
• Rubber which covers the ports (for charging/computer connection/SD memory cards) seems a bit sturdier than the 305's was
• Slot for memory cards exists. With the Edge 305 it didn't and maps couldn't be 'slotted in'

CONS:

• The base map it comes with is practically useless. I had to buy a wee Garmin 'City Navigator' SD card with UK/Ireland information on it. It was only another £25 or so but it's still more money to take into account. Having written that, it's well worth the £25
• Although navigation can be set to avoid motorways/dual carriageways, it's not detailed enough (as far as I can tell) to let one avoid the likes of 'A' roads. As such, it can plot routes which go along very busy roads. An option to cut out 'A' roads would be good too. I wouldn't like to trust it to set a route if I was away somewhere and didn't know the roads well
• The first time I used it, it took the elevation I left from as sea level even though it was about 500 feet above sea level. As such, the elevation wasn't great for the journey. It was fine as regards knowing I was ascending and descending but I can be fairly sure I wasn't about 400 feet below sea level when it claimed I was
• This is very petty and shows quite how much I like the new Edge 800: Due to its nature of touch screen operation, I noticed my greasy fingers smudge it a little. When I wipe the screen with a tissue it (as you would expect) sometimes flits through to another screen/menu/whatever. Having written that, it's possible to lock the unit so it stays on one particular screen until unlocked. Look, I said it was petty. I'm trying to find fault
• Again this is very minor but it would have been nice if the Edge 800 had been able to communicate wirelessly with a computer, instead of having to use a USB lead. Having written that, I primarly use the USB connection to charge it and therefore connecting with it is no disadvantage
  

All in all, it's a smashing GPS for my cycling needs, or appears to be so far. I suppose more use will reveal its strengths and weaknesses to a much greater extent and I look forward to finding them out.

As I don't have any of those fancy ANT+ power meters, I'm in no position to comment about their use with the Edge 800. Sorry. If anyone wants to buy me a fancy ANT+ power meter set, I'll happily try it out.